Is White Moss Common?

Description

• White moss is a mounding or clumping moss that forms a low, rounded hill. White moss may be silvery white, grayish or bluish green and grows only 1 to 3 inches tall. White moss is comprised of feathery foliage and produces multitudes of slim stalks topped with sporophytes or spore dispersal organs. When the spores are ripe, the sporophytes will burst open and wind will disperse them to moist locations. White cushion moss can be used as a ground cover and will spread, although its growth is slow.

Genus

• There are about 122 species in the Leucobryum genus. The first part of the name comes from the Greek "leukos," which means white. The latter part is from "bryon," or moss. White cushion moss is also called pincushion moss and mother-in-law's moss. The pale color in the Leucobryum mosses is caused by air bubbles in the chlorocysts, which are responsible for accessing oxygen for the plant and exchanging gasses. Leucobryum are found in the northern part of the United States and tropical areas. The only place they aren't common is where temperatures are consistently frozen, such as Antarctica.

Locations

• White moss can be found anywhere there is moisture and sunshine. The plant grows in conifer or hardwood forests, coastlands, disturbed soils, range and grasslands and urban areas. The moss is adaptable to high or low elevations and a variety of soils as long as they are humus rich. Mosses can grow in areas where there is no direct soil, such as rotting logs, rocks and other surfaces, both vertical and horizontal. Mosses are excellent at holding water and contribute to their environments by releasing moisture.

Life Cycle

• Mosses have no root systems and cannot uptake water and nutrients. They must absorb water from the air and their environment in a process called osmosis. White moss needs to grow where it gets at least half a day of sunshine to produce food for itself. The leafy composition ensures a good supply of chlorophyll, which is part of the photosynthetic process. Photosynthesis drives the production of solar energy into carbohydrates for the plant's use.