Jacian,
I have a page on my website at "http://www.killies.com/Killieplants.htm" showing the 4 different mosses I have in my tanks. Besides the Java, Christmas and Taiwan moss, I also have a picture of the Bukit Timah moss.
Your first picture is definitely the Java Moss. Your Christmas Moss looks like mine except that your leaves are short and stubbly while mine are long and slim. The triangular shapes of both our Christmas moss are pretty obvious. That's the only difference, as far as I can tell, between the Christmas and Taiwan Moss. If you examine the small "leaflets" on the moss, they look exactly the same.
I suspect sometimes that the Christmas and Taiwan moss are actually one and the same plant. If you look at just one frond, it's almost impossible to tell them apart. Only when you have a fairly big bunch, does the difference become obvious.
A couple of weeks ago, there was an article in the Straits Times about a professor in our university who's a moss expert. Seems like he goes all over the world collecting and catalogueing mosses. I would have sent him the mosses for positive identification if I had not been so busy at that time. If anyone knows his name and how I can contact him, please let me know.
Loh K L
Bookmarks