Moss Medicine

A comprehensive illustrated guide to bryophytes

• Explores more than 600 species of the bryophyte family of plants—mosses, liverworts, and hornworts—in text and full-color photos

• Shows the ways that indigenous peoples around the world have traditionally used mosses and other bryophytes for food preservation, clothing, and medicine

• Details scientific research on the potency of bryophyte compounds and terpenoids as well as their antiviral, antimicrobial, antifungal, and anti-cancer properties

Bryophytes, the family of plants that includes mosses, liverworts, and hornworts have no vascular tissue and no roots. They ­survive—and thrive—by extracting moisture and nutrients directly from the air. Found on all continents in a wide range of climates, these plants are some of the oldest on our planet. As Robert Dale Rogers reveals, they are also among the most beneficial due to unique healing benefits recently recognized by science, including antiviral, antimicrobial, antifungal, and anti-cancer properties.

This full-color illustrated encyclopedia explores more than 600 species of bryophytes through the lens of ethnobotany, folklore, chemistry, pharmacology, and their healing applications in homeopathy and aromatherapy. Indigenous people all over the world have used bryophytes for millennia for food preservation, waterproofing, insulation, and medicine. The author compares the three types of bryophytes with scientific research on the medicinal effects of their chemical compounds and terpenoids. Bryophytes can be used in herbal preparations, homeopathic remedies, and essential oils for common ailments. Learn the environmental benefits of mosses, including how they sequester carbon and can phyto-remediate our increasingly polluted planet.

This book showcases the benefits and beauty of bryophytes while revealing how these ancient plants have supported humanity for eons, and continue to do so.