One of the things I like about this time of year is how you can see so much further into the forest once the shrubs that make up the undergrowth have lost their leaves. This means that things that were hidden all summer like mosses suddenly become very visible. I was surprised to find that I could see so far up Brickyard Brook in Winchester recently. The water was very low and every stone was covered in moss. This is odd since not that long ago water covered most of the stones. Can mosses really grow that fast, or were they there underwater the whole time, I wondered. There are aquatic mosses and one called common water moss (Fontinalis antipyretica) was recently found to be growing at 1000 foot depths in Yellowstone Lake, near a geo-thermal vent.
Mosses don’t have roots but on dry land they soak up rain water like a sponge and release it slowly over time. Other water loving plants like this dog lichen (Peltigera membranacea) take advantage of that and grow among them so they won’t dry out. This lichen was moist and pliable, even though we’ve been in a drought for months. Mosses also benefit the ecosystem in many other ways. Bryologist Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer says that “One gram of moss from the forest floor, a piece about the size of a muffin, would harbor 150,000 protozoa, 132,000 tardigrades, 3,000 springtails, 800 rotifers, 500 nematodes, 400 mites, and 200 fly larvae.”
The name medusa moss (Hedwigia ciliata) comes from the way this moss looks like a bunch of tangled worms when it dries out. It is also called white tipped moss, for obvious reasons. This moss is fairly common and I find it mostly growing on stones in sunny spots. It always seems to be very happy and healthy.
I think this moss must be rambling tail moss (Anomodon viticulosus) because of its long length and its habit of growing out away from the tree’s trunk. I think it is too long to be tree skirt moss (Anomodon attenuates.)
The main stems of rambling tail-moss are said to be creeping with blunt ends like a paintbrush, and they arch upward when dry like a hook. Those attributes and their yellow green color are what lead me to think that this example is Anomodon viticulosus, but I could be wrong. You really need a microscope to be sure when there are several mosses that look so much alike.
Apple moss (Bartramia pomiformis) doesn’t look like many other mosses so it’s relatively easy to identify. Its reproduction begins in the late fall and immature spore capsules (sporophytes) appear by late winter. When the warm rains of spring arrive the straight, toothpick like sporophytes swell at their tips and form tiny globes that always look like pearls to me, but someone thought they looked like apples and the name stuck.
Though they’re orange on this example sometimes the spore capsules do turn red as they age, so I guess the name apple moss is appropriate.
Broom moss (Dicranum scoparium) gets its common name from the way the leaves all point in the same general direction, making it look as if it had been swept by a broom. It’s a fairly common moss that grows in large tufts or mats on logs and tree bases, soil or stone.
Delicate fern moss (Thuidium delicatulum) changes from deep green to lime green when it gets cold and becomes one of the more visible mosses. It grows in soil in shaded spots and I find it in my lawn each fall. It will also grow on the base of trees and on logs and boulders, where it can form quite dense mats. Orchid growers use this moss in orchid cultivation.
Greater whipwort (Bazzania trilobata) grows right alongside mosses but it’s a liverwort. A close look shows that it looks almost if it has been braided. Each leaf on this leafy liverwort is only about an eighth of an inch wide and has three triangular notches at its base. This is where the trilobata part of the scientific name comes from. It means “having three lobes.”
Stair-step moss (Hylocomium splendens) is a very beautiful moss that grows on stones and looks quite fragile, but I’ve seen it with icicles hanging from it so I can say with certainty that it’s a lot tougher than it looks. That is most likely why it grows as far north as the arctic tundra. It seems fairly rare here; this is the only place that I’ve seen it.
When dry stair step moss has a slight satiny sheen to it, and that’s probably how it came by its other common name of glittering wood-moss. Its common name comes from the way the new growth “steps up” off the midrib of the previous year’s branch. Each year a new branch grows from the old and this growth habit allows stair step moss to grow up and over other mosses. It is said that you can tell the age of the moss by counting these steps, and from what I saw this branch would have been at least 5 years old.
This is the first time that big red stem moss (Pleurozium schreberi) has appeared on this blog because, though I’ve seen it for years I have only just learned its name. It’s a very common moss that I often see growing in very large mats, sometimes even overrunning other mosses. I finally learned the name of this one by reading The Saratoga Woods and Waterways Blog. If you love nature and aren’t reading this blog you’re doing yourself a disservice.
It should be obvious how big red stem comes by its common name but I don’t see any red, and neither does my color finding software. I’ve looked through two moss books and countless photos on line though, and all examples of big red stem look like this example. That makes me wonder if its stem isn’t red for part of the time. Mosses do change color.
Rose moss (Rhodobryum roseum) is a very beautiful moss and one of my favorites. Each little rosette of leaves looks like a tiny flower, and that’s how it comes by its common name. Rose moss is a good indicator of limestone in the soil so it’s wise to look for other lime loving plants in the area when it is found. This is a relatively rare moss in my experience. I know of only one place to find it.
Moss grows where nothing else can grow. It grows on bricks. It grows on tree bark and roofing slate. It grows in the Arctic Circle and in the balmiest tropics; it also grows on the fur of sloths, on the backs of snails, on decaying human bones. It is a resurrection engine. A single clump of mosses can lie dormant and dry for forty years at a stretch, and then vault back again into life with a mere soaking of water.
~Elizabeth Gilbert
Thanks for coming by.
It is the season for viewing the Forests of Lilliput, with fewer distractions from larger, more ostentatious vegetation. A beautiful collection of photos of one of my favorite forest floor plants, and I enjoyed the education, Allen.
Thank you Lavinia. Yes, it’s so much easier to see things now. The mosses really stand out!
A very instructive and focussed post. The concluding quotation was the perfect ending.
Thank you Ben, I’m glad you thought so. That quote was hard to find!
That’s the second great quotation I’ve found this morning. It is the closing used by tiramit at https://dhammafootsteps.com/2016/11/11/astonishment/.
I liked that one too!
Yes. His is one of my favourite sites.
WHAT an interesting article!
Thanks very much Anne.
Thank you for your expert look at mosses! I’m always amazed at the number of different species there are of them, and how each one finds a niche in this world. As other have said, they’re beautiful, but don’t often get the kind of attention that they deserve. There’s nothing better on a warm spring day while fishing to find a nice spot on the river’s bank covered in moss to sit for a spell, or to take a nap. I really should pay more attention to them.
Thanks Jerry! Mosses are small and hard to see unless they grow in large patches, so I think that’s why people pass them by. They’re also hard to identify.
I agree with you about there being nothing better than lazing on a patch of moss on a river bank. That’s my idea of a good day!
Mosses are wonderful. Your photos display their subtle variety. I’m considering turning part of the back lawn into moss.
Thank you. I’d be interested in seeing how your yard turns out. If you get the right moss for the situation it should be nice, and also very easy to care for.
It is wonderful to see patches of bright green moss in a wood on a winter’s day. I used to think that moss was just ‘moss’; I had no idea there were so many types! This is a very beautiful post Allan; thank-you!
Thank you Clare. I like seeing moss in winter too.
I just looked it up and found that there are nearly 10,000 species of moss. It would take a very long time to learn them all!
I had no conception that there would be so many!
Me neither!
I bought a book on moss identification but it made my head hurt so much that mostly I just look at them with happy ignorance.
I know exactly what you mean. Mosses are hard to learn because there are so many that look alike.
Great post. Now a new form of beauty is visible in the forests.
Thanks Montucky! They’ve been there all along but they’re hard to see when the leaves are in the way.
Nice post Allen! I love mosses, but for some reason I have always been lazy about learning the names of even the common ones I see almost every day. Maybe I will start with the ones on this post–most of which grow in my back woods.
Thank you. I don’t blame you for being lazy. I’ve been studying mosses for several years and I still only know a handful of them. The easiest ones to identify are those with a unique color or shape, like rose moss. No other moss that I know of looks like it.
Beautiful ♥
Thank you. mosses are indeed beautiful!
Great post, as always. The “big red stem” very clearly has a red stem (for those of us who can see it). Are you able to focus your color-finding software on a tiny spot? Check out the lower parts of the stems, especially that perfectly vertical line in the lower right, and the bottom of the stems that lean to the left just right of center.
Thank you Al. The software uses the mouse pointer and tells you what color it’s pointing to. It finds mostly olive green on the moss stems but it did find a tiny spot of dark red just now.
It isn’t highly accurate and sometimes sees light reflected on certain plants as blue.
Thank you again for a fascinating post. I’ve always loved mosses, they are so patable. That is they are fun to pat as well as admire. .And they are so much easier to maintain than grass for a lawn”.
You’re welcome Cat, and thank you. I agree. Mosses like broom moss look almost like animal fur, and they have to be just about the easiest things to take care of.
Reblogged this on Poltrack Pix and commented:
Moss post from New Hamphire Garden Solutions
Thank you John.
What beautiful plants mosses are, I shall look more carefully at them in future. read your quote too they are marvellous plants.
Thank you Susan. Mosses are indeed beautiful and so cheerful to see in winter.