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Hylocomium splendens

Name: Hylocomium splendens

Common Name: Stair Step Moss, Mountain Fern Moss (Crum 2004)

Habitat: H. splendens is found on logs and humus in moist, coniferous forests (Hutten, Hutten, and Woodward 2001).

Distribution: The Stair Step Moss has been reported in New Zealand and in North America from Northern Canada south to Oregon, Colorado, Iowa, and North Carolina (Crum 2004).

Gametophyte Appearance: H. splendens is found in green or yellowish mats and growing in a stair-step pattern with the new-year’s growth forming the new 'step' (Hutten, Hutten and Woodward 2001). Its stems are stiff and wiry, regularly 2-3-pinnate, frondose, and reddish in color (Crum 2004). Stem leaves are 2-3 mm long, broadly oblong-ovate and loosely erect with a double costa extending from 1/3-1/2 the length of the leaf (Crum 2004). The primary branch leaves are 1.2-1.5 mm long and oblong-ovate and the leaves of the branchlets 0.4-0.8 mm in length and oblong lanceolate (Crum 2004). Genus Hylocomium is also marked with filiform, branched paraphyllia in abundance (Crum 2004).

Sporophyte Appearance: H. splendens has medium setae, measuring from 1.2 to 3 cm in length and is orange-brown to reddish in color (Crum 2004). The capsules are 1.5-2.7 mm long and brown, the operculum is rostrate (beaked), and the spores are very finely papilose (Crum 2004).

Interesting Facts:

  • H. splendens has been found to possess strong antibacterial properties against Gram (+) bacteria (Kang, Kim, Liu, Jovel, and Towers 2007)
  • The stair step growth pattern makes H. splendens the moss of choice for most moss research as it is easy to measure the yearly growth of the moss.

    • Resources
    Crum, Howard. 2004. Mosses of the Great Lakes Forest 4th ed. University Herbarium, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
    Hutten, Martin, Karen Hutten, and Andrea Woodward. 2001. 101 Common Mosses, Liverworts & Lichens of the Olympic Peninsula. National Park Service, Washington, D.C.
    Kang, S. J., S. H. Kim, P. Liu, E. Jovel, and G.H. N. Towers. 2007. Antibacterial Activities of Some Mosses Including Hylocomium splendens From South Western British Columbia. Fitoterapia v.78.
    Michael Lüth @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Lüth, M. 2004. Pictures of bryophytes from Europe [CD-ROM]. Published by the author.
    Vitt, Dale H., Janet E. Marsh, and Robin B. Bovey. 1988. Mosses. Lichens & Ferns of Northwest North America. Lone Pine, Edmonton, Alberta.

    Written by Michael Schwager 2008

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