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stigative things with arthropods and palm fronds and boxes of yellowed bones。 everywhere there was an air of unhurried thoroughness；of people being engaged in a gigantic endeavor that could never be pleted and mustn’t berushed。 in 1967； i had read； the museum issued its report on the john murray expedition； anindian ocean survey； forty…four years after the expedition had concluded。 this is a worldwhere things move at their own pace； including a tiny lift fortey and i shared with a scholarlylooking elderly man with whom fortey chatted genially and familiarly as we proceededupwards at about the rate that sediments are laid down。
when the man departed； fortey said to me： “that was a very nice chap named normanwho’s spent forty…two years studying one species of plant； st。 john’s wort。 he retired in 1989；but he still es in every week。”
“how do you spend forty…two years on one species of plant？” i asked。
“it’s remarkable； isn’t it？” fortey agreed。 he thought for a moment。 “he’s very thoroughapparently。” the lift door opened to reveal a bricked…over opening。 fortey lookedconfounded。 “that’s very strange；” he said。 “that used to be botany back there。” he puncheda button for another floor； and we found our way at length to botany by means of backstaircases and discreet trespass through yet more departments where investigators toiledlovingly over once…living objects。 and so it was that i was introduced to len ellis and thequiet world of bryophytes—mosses to the rest of us。
when emerson poetically noted that mosses favor the north sides of trees （“the moss uponthe forest bark； was pole…star when the night was dark”） he really meant lichens； for in thenineteenth century mosses and lichens weren’t distinguished。 true mosses aren’t actuallyfussy about where they grow； so they are no good as natural passes。 in fact； mosses aren’tactually much good for anything。 “perhaps no great group of plants has so few uses；mercial or economic； as the mosses；” wrote henry s。 conard； perhaps just a touch sadly；in how to know the mosses and liverworts； published in 1956 and still to be found on manylibrary shelves as almost the only attempt to popularize the subject。
they are； however； prolific。 even with lichens removed； bryophytes is a busy realm； withover ten thousand species contained within some seven hundred genera。 the plump andstately moss flora of britain and ireland by a。 j。 e。 smith runs to seven hundred pages； andbritain and ireland are by no means outstandingly mossy places。 “the tropics are where youfind the variety；” len ellis told me。 a quiet； spare man； he has been at the natural historymuseum for twenty…seven years and curator of the department since 1990。 “you can go outinto a place like the rain forests of malaysia and find new varieties with relative ease。 i didthat myself not long ago。 i looked down and there was a species that had never beenrecorded。”
“so we don’t know how many species are still to be discovered？”
“oh； no。 no idea。”
you might not think there would be that many people in the world prepared to devotelifetimes to the study of something so inescapably low key； but in fact moss people number inthe hundreds and they feel very strongly about their subject。 “oh； yes；” ellis told me； “themeetings can get very lively at times。”
i asked him for an example of controversy。
“well； here’s one inflicted on us by one of your countrymen；” he said； smiling lightly； andopened a hefty reference work containing illustrations of mosses whose most notablecharacteristic to the uninstructed eye was their uncanny similarity one to another。 “that；” hesaid； tapping a moss； “used to be one genus； drepanocladus。 now it’s been reorganized intothree： drepanocladus； wamstorfia； and hamatacoulis。”
“and did that lead to blows？” i asked perhaps a touch hopefully。
“well； it made sense。 it made perfect sense。 but it meant a lot of reordering of collectionsand it put all the books out of date for a time； so there was a bit of； you know； grumbling。”
mosses offer mysteries as well； he told me。 one famous case—famous to moss peopleanyway—involved a retiring type called hyophila stanfordensis； which was discovered on thecampus of stanford university in california and later also found growing beside a path incornwall； on the southwest tip of england； but has never been encountered anywhere inbetween。 how it came to exist in two such unconnected locations is anybody’s guess。 “it’snow known as hennediella stanfordensis；” ellis said。 “another revision。”
we nodded thoughtfully。
when a new moss is found it must be pared with all other mosses to make sure that ithasn’t been recorded already。 then a formal description must be written and illustrationsprepared and the result published in a respectable journal。 the whole process seldom takesless than six months。 the twentieth century was not a great age for moss taxonomy。 much ofthe century’s work was devoted to untangling the confusions and duplications left behind bythe nineteenth century。
that was the golden age of moss collecting。 （you may recall that charles lyell’s fatherwas a great moss man。） one aptly named englishman； george hunt； hunted british mosses soassiduously that he probably contributed to the extinction of several species。 but it is thanksto such efforts that len ellis’s collection is one of the world’s most prehensive。 all780；000 of his specimens are pressed into large folded sheets of heavy paper； some very oldand covered with spidery victorian script。 some； for all we knew； might have been in thehand of robert brown； the great victorian botanist； unveiler of brownian motion and thenucleus of cells； who founded and ran the museum’s botany department for its first thirty…oneyears until his death in 1858。 all the specimens are kept in lustrous old mahogany cabinets sostrikingly fine that i remarked upon them。
“oh； those were sir joseph banks’s； from his house in soho square；” ellis said casually； asif identifying a recent purchase from ikea。 “he had them built to hold his specimens from theendeavour voyage。” he regarded the cabinets thoughtfully； as if for the first time in a longwhi