The bonfire moss can grow in a cave with no natural light at all. In Niagara Cave, a cave lit artificially, it has been reported to keep growing, and its form changes as a result.
Funaria hygrometrica, also called the common cord-moss, is a moss in the class Bryopsida. It is a water moss that grows on shady, moist soil, on moist walls, and in the crevices of rocks. It also appears where recent fires have burned.
The moss is a good subject for anyone curious about how simple plants adapt to unusual places, from burned ground to caves.
Distribution and Habitat
The bonfire moss grows on shady, moist soil and on moist walls and rock crevices. It also appears on ground where recent fires have taken place, which gives it its common name.
Its range covers places where moisture stays available, and it is often found in such spots within the habitats it uses. It has also been reported in Niagara Cave, an artificially illuminated cave with no natural light.
The moss turns up most often in spring, with its peak in April. Activity falls off through the summer and autumn, and the lowest point comes in December.
Growth and Form
The bonfire moss is a nonvascular plant. It lacks the internal conducting tissue found in ferns and flowering plants, so it depends on moisture in its surroundings.
In caves lit only by artificial light, the growth form shifts. The internodes lengthen, and the leaves become longer and narrower than those grown in natural light.
Photos
Photographs from via iNaturalist, licensed under CC0 1.0., by Colin Meurk via iNaturalist, licensed under CC BY 4.0., by Мирослав Соболев via iNaturalist, licensed under CC BY 4.0., by Rosalie Lawrence via iNaturalist, licensed under CC BY 4.0., by Naelin via iNaturalist, licensed under CC BY 4.0., by Jacqueline Worthington via iNaturalist, licensed under CC BY 4.0., by Tom Beard via iNaturalist, licensed under CC BY 4.0., by arthur_haendler via iNaturalist, licensed under CC BY 4.0., by Marc Riera via iNaturalist, licensed under CC BY 4.0., by Clive Freedman via iNaturalist, licensed under CC BY 4.0., by zebedeugalinha via iNaturalist, licensed under CC BY 4.0., by Sabarni Sarker via iNaturalist, licensed under CC BY 4.0., by marius via iNaturalist, licensed under CC BY 4.0., and by Pluto Hooper via iNaturalist, licensed under CC BY 4.0., credited on each photo.
Ecology and classification
Habitat
Growth habit
- Moss
Classification
- Phylum
- Bryophyta
- Class
- Bryopsida
- Order
- Funariales
- Family
- Funariaceae
- Genus
- Funaria
- Species
- Funaria hygrometrica
Sources
- GBIF Species names and classification
- iNaturalist Photos
- Wikidata Common names and conservation status
- Wikipedia Summary extract
- USDA Plants US plants: growth habit and growing conditions
