eaglebtc Posted January 9, 2003 Share Posted January 9, 2003 LOL Those headline writers are sure having fun these days. Take a look at this! RARE ENGLISH MOSS ENDS 130-YEAR CELIBACY LONDON (AP) -- For more than 130 years, the rare Nowell's moss found on old limestone walls in northwest England has not been known to fruit and the plant has been listed as an endangered species. But scientists said they have found tiny brown cigar-shaped spores on a patch of the moss on a wall at Penyghent Hill in the undulating Yorkshire Dales -- the first time since 1866 that the moss is known to have reproduced. "I was absolutely overjoyed ... because I knew the history of the plant and I knew that the last person to see this was a famous botanist in the 1860s," Fred Rumsey, a plant biodiversity researcher at London's Natural History Museum who made the find, said Tuesday. Scientists from the University of Bradford and the Natural History Museum are now studying the plant's molecular and genetic makeup to find ways to protect it from further decline. They are also investigating the mites that have been damaging the plants by eating the female sex organs. "We may have to do some matchmaking -- 130 years is a very long time to go without sex," said Rumsey. Link: CNN.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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