Glittering woodmoss (Hylocomium splendens)

  • Mchy Moss

Moss family (Hylocomiaceae)

Moss forming a glittering green or yellow-green sward. Arching stems 10-15 cm long, red, with annual growth layers one above the other. Feathery tripinnate branching structure, spread flat, and more or less symmetrically. Leaves fine, narrowing abruptly to sharp tips. Branches red, 2-3 cm in length. Capsule brown and of an elongated ovate shape, bent into an arch shape. However, this only develops rarely.

Grows in pine, spruce or mixed/coniferous forest, as well as open oak woodland and in marshy broadleaved forests (especially of alder on peatlands). Enjoys Partial Protection.

 

Descriptions devised by the team at the Independent Department of Forest Botany, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, i.e. L. Witkowska-Żuk, K. Marciszewska, W. Ciurzycki, A. Obidziński and P. Zaniewski