Hylocomium splendens (Hedw.) Schimp.
Splendid feather moss, glittering woodmoss, stairstep moss, mountain fern moss
This moss is so cool up close! It is found worldwide, in Northern Hemisphere boreal forests, from Arctic tundra into the northern US, along with Europe, Russia, Canada, parts of China, East Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.
Identification: This is a colorful moss, typically olive green, yellowish, or yellow green, with reddish stems and branches. The feathery fronds are quite beautiful. Branches can reach 8″ (20 cm) in length. Each year, new growth begins from the approximate center of the prior year’s branch, clambering slowly over other mosses or forest detritus, forming large mats. Since the lateral branching occurs annually, counting the branches yields the age of the moss. Seta, the stalks supporting the capsules, are ⅛–⅞″ (5–25 mm) long. Capsules are mostly bent horizontally at their necks. They are ovoid to ellipsoid, with distinct necks, and ~1/16″ (1.7–2.8 mm) in size.
Habitats: Abundant and often dominant in shaded coniferous forests. It also occurs on ledges, humus and decaying wood in cool, moist ravines and mountain woods from sea level to 1.9 mi (3 km).
Online References:
9/7/2025 · Andover, Maine · By Heather A. Kent 
ID is uncertain 
3/22/2025 · Owens Mouth Preserve West, Boothbay, Maine · ≈ 2½ × 2½″ (6.9 × 7.3 cm) 
10/10/2021 · 88 Wilderness Lane, Norway, Maine · ≈ 6 × 3½″ (14 × 9.4 cm) 
4/7/2021 · Hackett and Minot Trails, Harpswell, Maine · ≈ 6 × 4″ (16 × 11 cm) 
4/7/2021 · Hackett and Minot Trails, Harpswell, Maine · ≈ 5 × 3½″ (13 × 9.2 cm) 
3/22/2025 · Owens Mouth Preserve West, Boothbay, Maine · ≈ 12 × 8″ (30 × 20 cm) 
3/22/2025 · Owens Mouth Preserve West, Boothbay, Maine · ≈ 6 × 4″ (16 × 10 cm) 
8/5/2023 · Oven’s Mouth Preserve, West Preserve, Boothbay, Maine 
3/5/2024 · Long Reach Preserve, Harpswell, Maine 
4/7/2021 · Hackett and Minot Trails, Harpswell, Maine · ≈ 6 × 4″ (15 × 10 cm) 
10/10/2021 · 88 Wilderness Lane, Norway, Maine · ≈ 4½ × 3″ (11 × 7.5 cm) 
3/22/2025 · Owens Mouth Preserve West, Boothbay, Maine · ≈ 5 × 3½″ (13 × 9 cm) 
Thanks to London Keyes for correcting my misidentification of this. · 1/13/2005 · Fort Columbia, Washington 
3/22/2025 · Owens Mouth Preserve West, Boothbay, Maine · ≈ 10 × 6″ (24 × 16 cm) 
10/6/2023 
9/22/2023 · Moxie Falls, Moxie Gore, Maine · ≈ 10 × 6″ (24 × 16 cm) 
9/21/2023 · Borestone Mountain, Elliotsville, Maine · ≈ 6 × 4″ (14 × 10 cm) 
8/5/2023 · Oven’s Mouth Preserve, West Preserve, Boothbay, Maine 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Division | Bryophyta | Mosses |
| Subdivision | Musci | Mosses (all 12,000 of them) |
| Class | Bryopsida | Mosses with arthrodontous spore capsules, which is most of them |
| Subclass | Bryidae | Mosses with a double peristome with alternating tooth segments |
| Order | Hypnales | An order of Bryophyta or leafy mosses |
| Family | Hylocomiaceae | From Greek hylokomos, ”forest-inhabiting“ |
| Genus | Hylocomium | From Greek hylokomos, ”forest-inhabiting“ |
| Species | splendens | “Splendid” |
Hylocomium splendens description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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