three protected plants for which you can be fined

It is a non-vascular plant, that is, it lacks roots, stem, leaves and flowers. The moss usually grows in humid areas, especially on the north face -the one that receives less light- of soils, rocks and trees. It reproduces by spores. It has a great capacity for water retention and nutrient accumulation and is the habitat of small animals, in addition to being “substrate for the germination of seeds of other plants and they protect the soil”, according to what is indicated in the Departament d’Acció Climate, Food and Rural Agenda of the Generalitat de Catalunya. In this autonomous community, its collection is allowed, but only “between September 15 and May 15, and the domestic collection limit is 4 m2”. However, from the Agents Rurals department they recommend buying it “in stores and markets from commercial gardening and places where its collection is allowed.” The Agents Rurals give some keys for its “sustainable collection” and indicate that it is not allowed to collect moss “in sources and epicontinental waters where the moss is and may be in contact with water in the ordinary flood period” or in “forest lands that suffered a forest fire in the last 10 years”, for example. And that, to collect it, it must be done in “continuous surfaces of less than 1 m2, so that there is an area equal to or greater than that extracted from the ground, distributed evenly. The substrate must not be damaged, with a maximum of 3 cm deep, and appropriate tools must be used that do not cause damage to the environment or damage the substrate,” they explain.

Mistletoe (Viscum album) is a semi-parasitic plant -which lives and germinates on other plants- that is often confused with holly because both are linked to Christmas: they are highly appreciated to decorate homes. The mistletoe, in addition to decorating, also serves to unite couples: tradition says that you have to kiss if you meet a person under its branches. However, both plants are very different: the leaves of the mistletoe are smooth, elongated and thin and of a slightly lighter green color than those of the holly, which in addition to being very dark green are hard, resistant and generally with a thorny margin. . The fruit of the mistletoe is usually white and sticky, while that of the holly is red and dry. The mistletoe grows on the trees, in the tops, so it is not usually a protected species nor is its collection prohibited, due to the difficulty that this entails. Both mistletoe and holly are plants that can – and do – photosynthesis on their own, but they also feed on the sap of the tree they host, weakening it and sometimes leading to its death.

Holly (ilex aquifolium) has also traditionally been used to decorate homes at Christmas. But “it is a protected species and its collection, cutting or uprooting is totally prohibited”, as indicated by Agents Rurals. This is due to the fact that its fruits ripen in winter, so it is a plant that has a very important ecological value (it is a source of food for many species of birds in a particularly harsh and scarce season of food for them). It is a shrub or small tree of the Aquifoliáceas family that can reach a height of about twenty meters and live for centuries and that, together with the mistletoe, is part of the Christmas decorative tradition.