Mosses must return to water to breed like the tree frogs do

Evidence

Mosses are the amphibians of the plant world. They are the evolutionary first step toward a terrestrial existence, a halfway point between algae and higher land plants. They have evolved some rudimentary adaptations to help them survive on land, and can survive even in deserts. But, like the peepers, they must return to water to breed. Without legs to carry them, mosses have to recreate the primordial ponds of their ancestors within their branches. — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss, 109

Categorization

• XREF: The amphibian analogy and watery-origin frame speaks to the polyad’s listening/observation-as-method and deep-time disturbance threads; echoes the lagon pond/amphibian discussion a reader would meet in eco-justice reading. — connects to: Invertebrates act as unwitting couriers of moss sperm beyond water’s reach — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural…, 265