Stats

Lifespan: Perennial
Size: Small
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Temperate forest
Range: Worldwide
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Spores
Defense: Camouflage
Status: Common

About

Haircap mosses, commonly known as hair moss, are a cosmopolitan genus of mosses that contain approximately 70 species. They have a hairy calyptra on young sporophytes that resembles the "hair of Sif" from Norse Mythology.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Bryophyta
Class: Polytrichopsida
Order: Polytrichales
Family: Polytrichaceae
Genus: Polytrichum