Click photo to enlarge
University of Otago botany and geology student Betina
Fleming examines the moss growing on a wall at her Queen St
flat. Photo by Stephen Jaquiery.
Most people do not give moss a second glance.
But for University of Otago botany and geology student Betina
Fleming, the moss on her garden wall has proved an endless
source of fascination.
Originally from Waimate, Miss Fleming (20) first noticed the
moss when she moved into her Queen St flat last year.
Over several months, she divided the side and top of the wall
into 248 squares and examined the contents of each to see how
many different kinds of moss she would find.
The results were surprising, she said yesterday.
Using a New Zealand moss guide with pictures for reference,
she discovered 15.
As interesting as that was, the study only raised more
questions, Miss Fleming said.
"I found a pattern to where particular varieties were
growing, but only some explanation about why that has
occurred.
What I would very much like to know is why.
Is it moisture, or light, or something to do with the
composition of the wall?"The study also provided her with
"quite beautiful" photographs of the moss, she said, some
taken with a digital camera attached to a microscope and some
taken using a regular camera.
In November, Miss Fleming presented her initial findings at a
workshop in the North Island.
Her talk won her the Tom Moss - the person, not the plant -
award for undergraduate research.
Miss Fleming said she hoped to be able to continue her
research this year as part of her third-year studies, with
the aim of producing a paper for publication in an academic
journal.
"It will probably be quite an obscure [journal], but it
should still be published."
allison.rudd@odt.co.nz
