Drying mosses contort into unrecognizable shapes as a water-conserving strategy

Evidence

Despite all these remarkable tactics for water retention, they are only a temporary respite from evaporation. The sun always wins the battle and the moss begins to dry. Profound changes in the shape of the mosses occur as water is pulled back to the atmosphere. Some mosses begin to fold their leaves, or roll them inward. This reduces the exposed surface area of the leaf and helps the plant cling to the last bits of surface water. Nearly all mosses change their shape and color when they dry out, making identification of species doubly difficult. Some leaves wrinkle, some spiral and twist their leaves around the stem, a sheltering cloak against the dry wind. — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss, 204

Categorization

• XREF: Builds directly on ch5’s recognition theme — same species becomes unidentifiable when dry, forcing search-image shifts. — connects to: Colonial packing, not individual form, is what holds water in moss — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural…, 185
• ADDENDUM: Observation of change-in-state as a disturbance/landscape-reading method fits the Osprey Wilds pedagogy, but weaker (moss internals).