2016/17 collections: mosses and liverworts

It pleases me to tell you that record numbers of people chose to collect bryophytes last year. By record numbers, I mean five. But I think mosses and liverworts are lovely, and it was very nice to spend time with fellow appreciators. What's more, the students all got good marks (two high 2:1s and three firsts).

You may not think envelopes in a box is a particularly inspiring display, but it's traditional, easy to label and put in family order, keeps everything in its place and stops things going mouldy. Plus, it gets good marks. This one was in the mid 70s. Its standardised labels (albeit untyped) containing lots of information were praised. The student also gained marks for the number of specimens collected, the 'excellent identification' and the effort that had been made in finding species from a range of families and habitats / locations.

Here's a page from the same student's field diary, which was said to include 'good detail.. good use of maps and sketches...'.

The feedback for the moss monographs highlight something that can be applied to any group - that amongst general information there should be some reference (with technical details) to the range of specimens that you yourself have collected.

Don't be thinking that mosses will automatically get a good mark - they require concerted effort. But if you're willing to put some effort in, at least they're relatively easy to find and transport. They're good for people that like something fiddly but haven't the finesse not to break off beetle legs and moth antennae (I'm talking about myself here).