Stats

Lifespan

Perennial

Size

Tiny

Diet

Photosynthetic

Biome

Temperate forest

Range

Northern Hemisphere

Movement

Sessile

Breeding

Spores

Status

Common

About

This moss forms dense green mats on the forest floor across North America. Its leaves curve sharply to one side like a windblown broom to catch falling moisture.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   seed

   A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2. 2.
   sprout

   A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3. 3.
   sapling

   A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4. 4.
   mature

   Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Plantae

Phylum

Bryophyta

Class

Bryopsida

Order

Dicranales

Family

Dicranaceae

Genus

Dicranum

Species

Dicranum scoparium