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sadly；in how to know the mosses and liverworts； published in 1956 and still to be found on manylibrary shelves as almost the only attempt to popularize the subject。
they are； however； prolific。 even with lichens removed； bryophytes is a busy realm； withover ten thousand species contained within some seven hundred genera。 the plump andstately moss flora of britain and ireland by a。 j。 e。 smith runs to seven hundred pages； andbritain and ireland are by no means outstandingly mossy places。 “the tropics are where youfind the variety；” len ellis told me。 a quiet； spare man； he has been at the natural historymuseum for twenty…seven years and curator of the department since 1990。 “you can go outinto a place like the rain forests of malaysia and find new varieties with relative ease。 i didthat myself not long ago。 i looked down and there was a species that had never beenrecorded。”
“so we don’t know how many species are still to be discovered？”
“oh； no。 no idea。”
you might not think there would be that many people in the world prepared to devotelifetimes to the study of something so inescapably low key； but in fact moss people number inthe hundreds and they feel very strongly about their subject。 “oh； yes；” ellis told me； “themeetings can get very lively at times。”
i asked him for an example of controversy。
“well； here’s one inflicted on us by one of your countrymen；” he said； smiling lightly； andopened a hefty reference work containing illustrations of mosses whose most notablecharacteristic to the uninstructed eye was their uncanny similarity one to another。 “that；” hesaid； tapping a moss； “used to be one genus； drepanocladus。 now it’s been reorganized intothree： drepanocladus； wamstorfia； and hamatacoulis。”
“and did that lead to blows？” i asked perhaps a touch hopefully。
“well； it made sense。 it made perfect sense。 but it meant a lot of reordering of collectionsand it put all the books out of date for a time； so there was a bit of； you know； grumbling。”
mosses offer mysteries as well； he told me。 one famous case—famous to moss peopleanyway—involved a retiring type called hyophila stanfordensis； which was discovered on thecampus of stanford university in california and later also found growing beside a path incornwall； on the southwest tip of england； but has never been encountered anywhere inbetween。 how it came to exist in two such unconnected locations is anybody’s guess。 “it’snow known as hennediella stanfordensis；” ellis said。 “another revision。”
we nodded thoughtfully。
when a new moss is found it must be pared with all other mosses to make sure that ithasn’t been recorded already。 then a formal description must be written and illustrationsprepared and the result published in a respectable journal。 the whole process seldom takesless than six months。 the twentieth century was not a great age for moss taxonomy。 much ofthe century’s work was devoted to untangling the confusions and duplications left behind bythe nineteenth century。
that was the golden age of moss collecting。 （you may recall that charles lyell’s fatherwas a great moss man。） one aptly named englishman； george hunt； hunted british mosses soassiduously that he probably contributed to the extinction of several species。 but it is thanksto such efforts that len ellis’s collection is one of the world’s most prehensive。 all780；000 of his specimens are pressed into large folded sheets of heavy paper； some very oldand covered with spidery victorian script。 some； for all we knew； might have been in thehand of robert brown； the great victorian botanist； unveiler of brownian motion and thenucleus of cells； who founded and ran the museum’s botany department for its first thirty…oneyears until his death in 1858。 all the specimens are kept in lustrous old mahogany cabinets sostrikingly fine that i remarked upon them。
“oh； those were sir joseph banks’s； from his house in soho square；” ellis said casually； asif identifying a recent purchase from ikea。 “he had them built to hold his specimens from theendeavour voyage。” he regarded the cabinets thoughtfully； as if for the first time in a longwhile。 “i don’t know howwe ended up with them in bryology；” he added。
this was an amazing disclosure。 joseph banks was england’s greatest botanist； and theendeavour voyage—that is the one on which captain cook charted the 1769 transit of venusand claimed australia for the crown； among rather a lot else—was the greatest botanicalexpedition in history。 banks paid ￡10；000； about 1 million in today’s money； to bringhimself and a party of nine others—a naturalist； a secretary； three artists； and four servants—on the three…year adventure around the world。 goodness knows what the bluff captain cook made of such a velvety and pampered assemblage； but he seems to have liked banks wellenough and could not but admire his talents in botany—a feeling shared by posterity。
never before or since has a botanical party enjoyed greater triumphs。 partly it was becausethe voyage took in so many new or little…known places—tierra del fuego； tahiti； newzealand； australia； new guinea—but mostly it was because banks was such an astute andinventive collector。 even when unable to go ashore at rio de janeiro because of a quarantine；he sifted through a bale of fodder sent for the ship’s livestock and made new discoveries。
nothing； it seems； escaped his notice。 altogether he brought back thirty thousand plantspecimens； including fourteen hundred not seen before—enough to increase by about aquarter the number of known plants in the world。
but banks’s grand cache was only part of the total haul in what was an almost absurdlyacquisitive age。 plant collecting in the eighteenth century became a kind of internationalmania。 glory and wealth alike awaited those who could find new species； and botanists andadventurers went to the most incredible lengths to satisfy the world’s craving for horticulturalnovelty。 thomas nuttall； the man who named the wisteria after caspar wistar； came toamerica as an uneducated printer but discovered a passion for plants and walked halfwayacross the country and back again； collecting hundreds of growing things never seen before。
john fraser； for whom is named the fraser fir； spent years in the wilderness collecting onbehalf of catherine the great and emerged at length to find that russia had a new czar whothought he was mad and refused to honor his contract。 fraser took everything to chelsea；where he opened a nursery and made a handsome living selling rhododendrons； azaleas；magnolias； virginia creepers； asters； and other colonial exotica to a delighted english gentry。
huge sums could be made with the right finds。 john lyon； an amateur botanist； spent twohard and dangerous years collecting specimens； but cleared almost 200；000 in today’smoney for his efforts。 many； however； just did it for the love of botany。 nuttall gave most ofwhat he found to the liverpool botanic gardens。 eventually he became director of harvard’sbotanic garden and author of the encyclopedicgenera of north american plants （which henot only wrote but also largely typeset）。
and that was just plants。 there was also all the fauna of the new worlds—kangaroos； kiwis；raccoons； bobcats； mosquitoes； and other curious forms beyond imagining。 the volume of lifeon earth was seemingly infinite； as jonathan swift noted in some famous lines：
so； naturalists observe； a fleahath smaller fleas that on him prey；and these have smaller still to bite ’em；and so proceed ad infinitum。
all this new information needed to be filed； ordered； and pared with what was known。
the world was desperate for a workable system of classification。 fortunately there was a manin sweden who stood ready to provide it。
his name was carl linné （later changed； with permission； to the more aristocraticvonlinné）； but he is remembered now by the latinized form carolus linnaeus。 he was born in1707 in the village of r？shult in southern sweden； the son of a poor but ambitious lutherancurate； and was such a sluggish student that his exasperated father apprenticed him （or； by some accounts； nearly apprenticed him） to a cobbler。 appalled at the prospect of spend