Going out on a limb here because mosses are really hard to identify … nevertheless my starting point is the genus Philonotis.
Plagiomnium are a genus of Acrocarp mosses with capsules (those are things on the end of “stalks” in the photographs arising from the end of each stem. The capsules contain and protect the sporophyte inside which the spores for prior to dispersal. This moss was growing at the foot of an old tree and I will return later in the year when it may be easier to get a more confident identification.
Hygrohypnum sp – possibly H. eugyrium (?) Swollen Brook Moss
30 March
Almost at the end of the first month and time for something completely different. As the snow melted away on the rocks surrounding the garden waterfall and withn the spray zone, the mosses that live there have reappeared and … well, and mosses are really interesting. Really.
This moss is, I believe is in the genus Hygrohypnum and perhaps H. eugyrium but could also be the similar Hypnum genus in which case the differential identification could be Hypnum pallescens or Lesseer Plait Moss. Mosses are less than simple creatures to identify, even with my specially high-power bryophytologist’s hand lens to aid in the process. I have loaded some photographs to iNaturalist in the hope that some real expert will aid me in getting this firmly nailed down to species. I will return to it later in the year when things are warmer and the moss is thinking of doing reproductive stuff that may assist.
Note – it’s tricky stuff like this in taxons that I am not wholly familiar with that make the 1000 species project the interesting challenge that it is.
