No, it doesn’t, and a
tree’s branches or bark won’t help you to find north either.
It was commonly believed
that pioneers and woodsmen of the late 18th and early 19th centuries
were able to find north, south, east and west by noting the
thickness of the branches and bark on the trees and the location of the
thickest moss on stones, stumps and tree trunks, and therefore didn’t need
or use compasses.
This old chestnut has been repeated so often, that it has become a
folk-saying.
Unfortunately, this bit of folk-wisdom is still often repeated by
sources who should know better, such as the Raleigh North Carolina Parks and
Recreation webpage, HERE, or the February 2004 issue of Popular Mechanics, page 124, HERE.
This folk-tale is such an oversimplification that it borders on being a
lie, although at its core there is a thin thread of truth, winding through
it.
It is true that the bark or the moss on one side of a tree will often be
rougher and thicker than on another side, and that its branches are often
longer on one side of a tree than on any other.
In an ideal forest of mature hardwood trees, where all “...other
things are equal”, as the unknown author of “Some Fallacies of the Forest”
wrote, and if the trees are growing on flat or nearly flat ground, with an even
canopy of leaves, then the sunshine would come from the south and would fall equally
on all the trees and then, and only then, would you be able to use bark, moss or
branches to tell north from south.
However, the all “...other things are equal”, is the weak spot
in this bit of folk-wisdom because, the other things are never equal, and
forests are never ideal.
So, is there any truth to this old bit forest-lore that a standing
tree’s bark is always roughest and most mossy on its north side, that its
branches growing towards the south are the largest and longest?
The amount of sunlight reaching a tree and the direction it reaches it
from, is what determines where the thickest and roughest bark is, with the
thickest and roughest bark found on the shadiest side of the tree. Also, trees that lean sharply will have the
thickest and roughest bark on their shadier undersides.
But this doesn’t help us find north and south, because a tree at the
edge of the forest might get its sunlight from any direction and therefore the
shadiest side and the roughest bark could also be on any side!
Moss is even less dependable than thick, rough bark because it grows
wherever it is the wettest.
In the northern hemisphere, the north side of any hill is shadier and
is likely to be damper and mossier, with less sun and more ferns growing upon
it than the south side, which woodsmen and hunters call the “noisy side”,
because you cannot walk through the dried leaves and branches without making
noise (note that in the southern hemisphere this reverses). This just complicates things even more,
because on a north facing hillside, you might have moss growing all the way
around the trunk!
Moss also grows wherever the
stemflow is the highest. Stemflow happens
when it rains, the rain is collected on the upper leaves or needles and tree branches
and is channeled downward along the trunk.
On flat ground or where the tree is growing straight up, the stemflows flows
down one or more sides, depending on how the bark and the major branches
channels the rain. If the ground is
sloped or the tree is leaning, then the stemflow, flows along the downslope or
underside of the tree. This means moss
can grow anywhere around a tree, which makes it very hard to use moss to find
north or south!
Plants
tend to be leafier and have more fruit on the sides that get the most sun and
if they are sheltered from the prevailing winds then their branches will be
thickest where there is the most sunlight.
And depending on where the tree is, the sunlight could be reaching it
from any direction, so branch size and their direction are completely
meaningless for helping you locate north and south!
In
the end, whenever you go out into the wilderness, bring a compass or two and
forget all about the thickness of the bark or moss on the tree trunks, and the
direction the branches are growing, because it just isn’t dependable.
I hope that you enjoy
learning from this resource! To help me
to continue to provide valuable free content, please consider showing your
appreciation by leaving a donation HERE.
Thank you and Happy Trails!
I
hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me
on YouTube at BandanaMan Productions for other related videos, HERE. Don’t forget to follow me on both The
Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE,
and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube. If you have questions, as always, feel free
to leave a comment on either site. I
announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at
bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.
That
is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!
Sources
Boy Scouts of America; Pathfinding, 1925, page 20, https://books.google.com/books?id=JKJN-dDZV5MC&pg=PA20&dq=moss+north+side&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjvgqzYv7iIAxW3nYkEHXQYN8YQ6AF6BAgLEAI#v=onepage&q=moss%20north%20side&f=false, accessed September 14, 2024
Frasco, Michelle; and
Dobson, Christopher; “Moss, Beech Trees And Stemflow: Integrated Science”,
pages 27 to 35, https://www.gvsu.edu/cms4/asset/DE36066F-E528-CF94-8F079306A8293D59/moss_beech__stemflow.pdf,
accessed September 14, 2024
Gladden, George; “On
Being Lost” The Boy Scouts' Year Book, Volume 6., [D. Littleton &
Company, 1920], page 201 to 202, https://books.google.com/books?id=iBQ-AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA202&dq=moss+north+side&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjk9N7Y_r2IAxU1mYkEHVtjMzg4ZBDoAXoECAgQAg#v=onepage&q=moss%20north%20side&f=false,
accessed September 14, 2024
Hansen, Albert, A.; “Plants
as Guides”, Forest and Stream, Volume 91, page 32, https://books.google.com/books?id=x1nlAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA32&dq=moss+north+side&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjvgqzYv7iIAxW3nYkEHXQYN8YQ6AF6BAgEEAI#v=onepage&q=moss%20north%20side&f=false, accessed September 14, 2024
Jessup, Elon; “Does Moss
Point North?”, Outing: Sport, Adventure, Travel, Fiction, April, 1919, Volumes
74-75, page 34, https://books.google.com/books?id=BRALAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA34&dq=moss+north+side&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjvgqzYv7iIAxW3nYkEHXQYN8YQ6AF6BAgHEAI#v=onepage&q=moss%20north%20side&f=false,
accessed September 14, 2024
Kephart, Horace; “How To Tell
Direction In Forest And On Prairie”, Outing and the Wheelman, Volume 42,
page 79, https://books.google.com/books?id=pryfAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA79&dq=moss+north+side&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjvgqzYv7iIAxW3nYkEHXQYN8YQ6AF6BAgOEAI#v=onepage&q=moss%20north%20side&f=false,
accessed September 14, 2024
Maxwell, Hu, and Miller, Thomas
Condit, History of West Virginia, Vol. 1, [Lewis Historical Publishing
Company, New York, 1913], page 59 to 60, https://books.google.com/books?id=6_cxAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA60&dq=moss+north+side+of+tree&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjjjL6lzL2IAxU0l4kEHdptJTcQ6AF6BAgIEAI#v=onepage&q=moss%20north%20side%20of%20tree&f=false, accessed
September 14, 2024
Mee, Arthur; The Book of Knowledge: The Children's
Encyclopedia, Vol. 7, [The Grolier Society, New
York 1911], page1615, https://books.google.com/books?id=KHA6AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA1615&dq=moss+north+side+of+tree&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjjjL6lzL2IAxU0l4kEHdptJTcQ6AF6BAgMEAI#v=onepage&q=moss%20north%20side%20of%20tree&f=false,
accessed September 14, 2024
Unknown; “Some Fallacies of the Forest”, Hardwood
Record, Vol. 37, No. 3, November 13, 1913, [Chicago], page 21 to 22, https://books.google.com/books?id=EwU3AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA21&dq=moss+north+side+of+tree&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwimpdOTtr2IAxURrYkEHWOyHsMQ6AF6BAgLEAI#v=onepage&q=moss%20north%20side%20of%20tree&f=false,
accessed September 14, 2024
Vargas,
Alfredo, SSgt.; “Survival: Nature’s Compass”, Aerospace Safety, Volume
34, April 1978, pages 23 to 25, https://www.safety.af.mil/Portals/71/documents/Magazines/FSM/1970s/197804%20-%20AerospaceSafety.pdf, accessed September 14, 2024
Wikimedia;
“Sweet birch (Betula lenta), hemlocks, and white pines
along a trail in State Game Land 295, Clinton County”, January 29, 2012, by
Nicholas A. Tonelli, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flickr_-_Nicholas_T_-_Cherry_Run_Game_Lands_(6).jpg,
accessed September 14, 2024
Wikimedia; “Old-growth
sweet birch (Betula lenta), McKean County, within the Tionesta Research
Natural Area of Allegheny National Forest”, June 10, 2012, by Nicholas A.
Tonelli, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Unidentified_moss_on_trees#/media/File:Flickr_-_Nicholas_T_-_Rooted.jpg,
accessed September 14, 2024
.jpg)
.jpg){kind=link}
