Stats

Lifespan

Perennial

Size

Huge

Diet

Photosynthetic

Biome

Temperate forest

Range

Worldwide

Movement

Sessile

Breeding

Spores

Defense

Camouflage

Status

Common

About

A tall, tufted moss whose star-shaped rosettes of stiff, narrow leaves can stretch stems beyond 30 cm — towering by moss standards. Each spore capsule sits atop a slender reddish stalk and wears a hairy golden cap that gives the species its name.

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.

Learn more

• View on iNaturalist →
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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Plantae

Phylum

Bryophyta

Class

Polytrichopsida

Order

Polytrichales

Family

Polytrichaceae

Genus

Polytrichum

Species

Polytrichum commune