Species: Common Feather-moss (Kindbergia praelonga)

Family: Feather Mosses (BRACHYTHECIACEAE)

Category: Non-Flowering Plants

Location: Widespread

A. Non-Flowering Plants

More extensive information on non-flowering plants can be found in a separate blog post.

B. Feather Mosses (BRACHYTHECIACEAE)

Members of this large family have a variety of forms from loose to dense tufts or mats, in a variety of sizes.

C. Common Feather-moss  (Kindbergia praelonga)

This is a common moss found on banks, in turf, in woodland, on logs, and tree trunks, preferring a shady habitat.

Additional Information

Mosses

There are 763 species of British mosses, which are small, non-vascular plants forming dense green clumps or mats in damp or shady places. Perennial mosses are evergreen. Individual plants usually have simple leaves attached to a stem that may be branched or unbranched. Instead of roots, mosses have rhizoids. Mosses assist control of soil erosion by providing surface cover and by absorbing water. An important genus is Sphagnum, whose species form peat. Vast mires of moss lock up huge quantities of carbon, of vital importance in the mitigation of climate change.

Mosses reproduce by the release of spores from little capsules on short stalks. Most mosses have one of two growth forms. Acrocarp mosses grow upright, forming mats, with capsules on the tips of their shoots. Pleurocarp mosses have sprawling growth, with capsules on the sides of their shoots.

The Mosses of Heene Cemetery is a blog post on our website which gathers together photographs of all the species in the Cemetery - along with other interesting information about mosses.

Images

Common Feather-moss

Common Feather-moss is found on banks, in turf, in woodland and on logs. (Paperclip shown for scale. Photographed indoors.)

Common Feather-moss

Common Feather-moss prefers a shady habitat.

Common Feather-moss

Common Feather-moss is found on banks, in turf, in woodland, on logs, and tree trunks, preferring a shady habitat. The leaves at the shoot tip of this moss species spread outwards.

Common Feather-moss

Common Feather-moss is found on banks, in turf, in woodland and on logs. (This specimen was photographed indoors.)