Re: Native species
I'm in the US (southeastern Pennsylvania), and locally, I've found (in a secret location! 
) LARGE clumps of Fissidens fontanus - softball sized and up. In the same location is a very tight, bushy aquatic moss that tends to get covered with bubbles. I've dubbed it "silver moss." In the aquarium, it tends to elongate and looks a bit like Leptodyctium riparium, but not quite. Instead of a compact shrub, it ends up as a messy tangle, but is still attractive. The place where both these mosses grow is part of an historic landmark - a springhouse - and they are bathed year in, year out in a constant flow of clear, cold water. However, the mosses can also be found some distance downstream in the creek into which the spring runs. Also, Amblystegium serpens can be found here, both outdoors and in greenhouses. I've seen Fontinalis antipyretica in springs in the Pocono Mountains, and I'm growing an unidentified species of Vesicularia that seems to like hard water that I found in a local conservatory. It produces numerous sporophytes in water, but I have terrible luck keeping it free of algae and have needed to re-collect it several times. In nearby St. Petersburg, PA, I've found a Fissidens with rounded microphylls that always seems to grow at the water line, but it grows painfully slowly "in captivity," and I lost it during the last heatwave of summer.
Last edited by lampeye; 27th Mar 2009 at 21:35.
Knowing others, one is wise; knowing the self, one is enlightened. In conquering others, one is forceful; in conquering oneself, one is mighty.
Reply With Quote
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks