Botany Photo of the Day

The unintentional (until today) three-part series on elongated, serpentine natural forms concludes with the aptly-named “snake moss”. Snake moss (or tongue moss) grows primarily in coniferous forests of north temperate maritime regions, but is also found in China and New Guinea (!). The genus Buckiella was separated from Plagiothecium in a 2001 paper (Ireland, RR. 2001. Buckiella, a new genus in the Hypnaceae (Musci). Novon. 11:55-62), so if you search for this moss in field guides, it is likely listed under the name Plagiothecium undulatum.

Unlike many of the name changes discussed via BPotD, the split was based off a morphological dissimilarity instead of molecular evidence. For more on the reasoning, see the Bryophyte Flora of North America's entry on Buckiella undulata. You might also appreciate the line drawings that accompany the entry.

Photography / art resource link: Photography at the Tipping Point, an article from Canadian Art Magazine on the meaning of digital photography: “But what will photography be when it is no longer connected to the world out there as a material trace? Will it be photography?”.