Of Course Moss Points North!©

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 18^th 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.

 

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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