What Kind of Chemical Defenses Are Mosses Producing?

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For the most part, vertebrates do not eat mosses. They have antimicrobials in those leaves that make them unpalatable to other organisms. Spanish moss is just named after its resemblance to a beard lichen but it's also not a lichen nor is it from Spain.

An instant classic. You’ll listen on repeat as world-renowned author, botanist, Indigenous ecology professor and bryologist Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer talks about her passion for moss. Cozy up for the most beautifully doled-out information about hidden worlds, overlooked mysteries, botanical drama, forests in miniature, Native peoples’ uses for moss and philosophies about science and ecology. Dr. Kimmerer, author of “Gathering Moss” and “Braiding Sweetgrass,” will change the way you see mosses forever, will inspire you to wear a loupe on a rope, and will soothe your soul with her beautiful voice and prose. Also bathmats, lawns and smoothies made of moss? We discuss.

Follow Dr. Kimmerer at facebook.com/braidingsweetgrass

Look for her books at independent bookstores or wherever books are sold (including Amazon): “Braiding Sweetgrass” and “Gathering Moss”

Donations went to the ESF’s Center for Native Peoples and the Environment and American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES)

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Sound editing by Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media & Steven Ray Morris

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