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Found some wild moss



Hey everybody,

I went collecting river rocks for my latest project this past weekend and 
found some moss growing on one of the rocks I brought home.  There's only 
about a pinch of it and most of it was looking rough by the time I 
discovered it, but there is enough healthy growth left that I can try and 
give an eyeball description of it (man, I gotta get a microscope).  I'll 
throw in any info that could be useful or possibly interesting.

It's growth form is similar to the Christmas moss that Kwek Leong sent but 
smaller in scale.  It has a central stem with smaller stems growing from it 
in pairs (opposed) at regular 1-2mm intervals and the leaves on the stems 
are small like (my) Java moss and appear pointed like an 
arrowhead.  Superficially, an individual stem looks somewhat like a 
miniature version of E.densa with very, very short internodes.  The moss 
has an attractive, vibrant green coloring (where it's healthy) again 
similar to the Christmas moss.  I found it in Tellico River which is 
located in the Cherokee National Forest near the TN/NC border in the 
Southeast US.  The river temp was about 60-65F by my guesstimation and the 
moss must've been growing submersed since all of the rocks I gathered came 
from water that was 10-12" deep or more and in the main path of the river 
rather than the shallows near a bank or in a drainage channel which only 
gets substantial flow intermittently (i.e. when it rains).  The water flow 
in the "collection" areas was moderate to heavy and these areas get intense 
sun during the midday hours and are lit indirectly during the early morning 
and late afternoon hours as the river is surrounded by very steep, tall ridges.

So, does anyone have a suggestion on what kind of moss I may have found?  I 
just don't know enough to make a decent guess, though I'm looking through 
the APD archives and elsewhere trying to glean what I can.  If time and 
weather permit, I'm going back to Tellico this coming weekend or the next 
to try and find some more of this moss (hopefully a substantial amount this 
time), so I can try to send some to anybody who would like to take a 
*serious* stab at ID-ing it.  I'm gonna try to cultivate it regardless, but 
I'd like to have an idea of what I've got here.  I'm hoping it's nothing 
too common in the hobby..."Chuck's moss" has a nice ring to it ;)

Moss-ridden regards,
Chuck


Chuck Huffine
Knoxville, Tennessee  USA
mailto:grendel at usit_net