Common Feather-moss
Synonym: Eurhynchium praelongum
A delicate feathery moss which usually seems to be growing thickly on logs, tree stumps and fallen branches. It doesn’t seem to grow on living trees. Sometimes, it covers the ground in shady areas.
It’s a light, bright green. The stems are regularly branched, so that the tips look like miniature Christmas trees.
It often grows with other feathery mosses mixed in, but is more delicate than most.
However, it’s a tough wee thing – it’s difficult to extract single strands, as they all grow tightly together.
The book says that the key identifying feature is the difference between the stem leaves and the branch leaves. The stem leaves are much wider at the base, and have a long tip, often bent to one side. The branch leaves are smaller, thinner and simpler.
I tried to get a picture showing this:
Didn’t quite come off, but it shows the shape of the stem leaves.
I’ve seen this one all over the place, but most of these pictures are from Craighall Den, Ceres. It grows thickly on fallen branches, less so on shady soil bank, but there was also a thick green carpet of it in quite a sunny spot.
Feathery mosses are proving hard to distinguish, but hopefully I’ll know this one from now on. Here is it in the frost:
PS Have just discovered that Kindbergia praelonga can also grow on boulders at the coast. I found the distinctive stem leaves when examining a moss growing alongside Schistidium maritimum on rocks at the foot of Kincraig cliffs. Mr Watson confirmed that it can be found in coastal locations, even though this habitat is the complete opposite of the shady woodland in which it usually grows.
Update November 2021
Thought I’d add a picture of the capsules, as found in Pilmuir Wood.
Learning about Mosses 