Country diary: the quiet miracle of the common feather-moss

Wenlock Edge, Shropshire: Species such as this one contain a remarkable reservoir of potentially medicinal chemicals

Green feathers in the wood, the plumage of moss: it appears unaffected by a squall that rattles up the lane. Its rain washes around the old, laid trunks of hedge sycamores, its wind blows goldfinch from mullein seedheads under power lines into hazels; its noise silences the thrush who, for some days in his ash tree, has been auditioning an oratory of fragmented phrases repeated in short bursts that will become a heart-stopping song before too long. The moss appears unaffected by the traffic of people, dogs and birds, unaffected by the seasons and the sudden appearance of snowdrops from a recurring dream.

Common feather-moss, Kindbergia praelonga, has branching ferny shoots up to 3cm long, with divided leaves that in some woodland forms are bipinnate or tripinnate with triangular-shaped tips so they look like feathers; they can be found in moist, shady places on a variety of surfaces.