Title:: [[Gathering Moss]] Authors:: [[Robin Wall Kimmerer]] Tags:: #moss #nonfiction #plants #trees Read:: 2021 ## Editions - Edition:: Oregon State University Press, 2003 - Original Copyright:: 2003 - Pages:: 176 ## Annotations I like moss.  Not a surprise I learned a lot about moss from this book. I especially enjoyed reading about the cultural history. For example, because sphangum moss can absorb twenty to forty times its weight in water, indigenous communities used it for diapers and sanitary napkins. But my favorite thing I read was the popular idea that bears ate moss before hibernating because the absorption properties acted like an anal plug so they wouldn’t poop in their sleep (which is the worst part about sleeping for a long time).  Unfortunately, scientific researchers are party poopers and figured out it’s not the moss that’s the plug but actually slowly secreting intestinal fluids that harden and dry out. Smh. I like moss a little less now.