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Hylocomium splendens (Hedw.) B.S.G. | |
Family HYLOCOMIACEAE Common names STEP
MOSS Microhabitat This moss was found in extensive mats on the ground in shady, moist depressions along Tatlow Trail. Most commonly found on soils in coniferous forests, it can also be found covering decaying logs or rarely on tree trunks or branches. H. splendens is also very common and widespread in boreal forests. Distribution H. splendens is circumpolar, in cooler parts of Northern Hemisphere but also Southern Hemisphere in New Zealand. It is found from sea level to alpine elevations. |
Loose
mat of branches on forest floor
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Morphology Shoots are twice pinnately branched with side branches all in a single horizontal plane to give a feathery appearance. Annual growth occurs as new arching shoots about 3–5 cm long at a sharp angle from the previous year’s shoot to produce a unique stair-step configuration and form loose mats of interwoven, overlapping branches. Stems are red-brown in colour and furry with paraphyllia (small appendages on stems of some creeping mosses). Individual leaves are 2–3 mm long, oval, smooth-edged, with a wide base that narrows abruptly to a sharp tip. Stem leaves have an elongate sinuous tip. The costa is double (2 midribs) and not readily evident. Sporophytes are infrequent but sometimes locally abundant, and mature in spring and summer. Key identifying features This moss forms carpets of broad, thumb-sized green “feathers” that arch up among each other from the forest floor. The unique feathery branching pattern, stair-step configuration, arching shoots with red-brown stems, and paraphyllia are all distinguishing features. Species in the genus Thuidium have a similar branching pattern but lack the red stems and are generally more yellow-green than brownish-green in colour. Eurhynchium praelonga (formerly Kindbergia praelonga) is often heavily branched but its branches are neither arched nor in a single flattened plane. E. praelonga stem leaves also only have a single (instead of double) costa. Interesting
notes The genus name Hylocomium means ‘moss of the forest’ derived from the Greek hyle, 'wood' and mnium, an ancient name for a moss. Splendens is the Latin word for 'shining'. In the lowland coniferous forests of coastal British Columbia, this species is often grows in association with Rhytidiadelphus loreus and Rhytidiadelphus triquetrus, especially in humus-rich areas dominated by western red cedar (Thuja plicata) and western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla). Here on the coast, it grows 3 to 5 times larger than at inland forest sites. H. splendens is often used for filling gaps in log structures in the Pacific Northwest. Wet moss is pressed into cracks and, when dry, remains compressed and stays green for the life of the cabin. In many ways it is preferable to modern material. H. splendens has been used in other parts of the world to line fruit and vegetable storage boxes. It has also been used to locate pollution sources and determining levels of airborne heavy metal pollution in the environment. Plants absorb metals over their entire surface, accumulate them in their tissues, and are little affected by substrate mineral levels. Selected References Pojar, J., and MacKinnon, A. 1994. Plants of Coastal British Columbia. BC Ministry of Forests and Lone Pine Publishing, Vancouver, Canada. Reimann, C., Niskavaara, H., Kashulina, G., Filzmoser, P., Boyd, R., Volden, T., Tomilina, O., and Bogatyrev, I. 2001. Critical remarks on the use of terrestrial moss (Hylocomium splendens and Pleurozium schreberi) for monitoring of airborne pollution. Environ. Pollut. 113(1): 41-57. Schofield, W.B. 1992. Some common mosses of British Columbia, 2nd ed. Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, Canada. Vitt, D.H., Marsh, J.E., and Bovey, R.B. 1988. Mosses, Lichens & Ferns of Northwest North America. Lone Pine Publishing, Edmonton, Canada. By Patrick Lilley Home >> Species List >> Hylocomium splendens © 2006 Department of Botany, University of British Columbia |
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