A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Polytrichum juniperinum
Moss. The stems are reddish with grey-green leaves that have a distinctive red-brown tip. This characteristic allows them to be separated from the bristly haircap (Polytrichum piliferum), very similar but with a green tip. The leaves of juniper haircap moss are lanceolate and upright spreading when dry, and when moist, wide-spreading. Although their growth form can be varied, they generally grow in thin, interwoven mats, and hardly as closely associated individuals. Juniper haircap moss have a well-developed system of tiny tubes for carrying water from the rhizoids to leaves that is uncharacteristic of mosses, resembling the system that has evolved in vascular plants such as ferns, gymnosperms and angiosperms. As a result of this developed system, stems have greater potential for height than in typical mosses.
On a sandy ground in a pine-tree forest
Camera Model: NIKON D300. Exposure Time: 1/60 sec. f/32 ISO Speed Rating: 200. Focal Length: 90.0 mm. Flash fired
Spotted on Mar 28, 2012
Submitted on Apr 14, 2012
3 Comments
Thanks drP. Mosses are a difficult subject but fascinating!!
Nice spotting! And excellent description. I'm going to have to read up on the proto-vascular system of this plant. Thanks for sharing the picture and the information.
Finally identified as Juniper haircap moss