News from IAB

The mission of the International Association of Bryologists (IAB), as a society, is to strengthen bryology by encouraging interactions among all persons interested in byophytes.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Growing Dicranum - buttermilk and pillbugs

Subject: Re: BRYONET: Growing Dicranum
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2003 15:14:40 -0500 (EST)
From: Janice M. Glime <jmglime@mtu.edu>
To: bryonet-l@mtu.edu

BRYONET

Dear Bryonnetters,
Just an anecdote regarding cultivating bryophytes with egg yolks,
buttermilk, or whatever. I tried the egg two years ago, using them to
glue a large mat of pleurocarpous mosses to a group of rocks. The mosses
seemed to be doing fine for about a week. Then one day I found them full
of holes, looking like a mat of Swiss cheese. I lifted the mat and
hundreds of pillbugs fell out. I don't know if the egg enhanced the
attraction, but I suspect it did, even though I know pillbugs eat mosses.
So, beware of those buttermilk, egg, etc mixes that might attract hungry
herbivores.

Janice
***********************************
Janice M. Glime, Professor
Department of Biological Sciences
Michigan Technological University
Houghton, MI 49931-1295
jmglime@mtu.edu
906-487-2546
FAX 906-487-3167
***********************************

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