Pleurozium schreberi
red-stemmed feather moss
Circumboreal: North America, Europe, and Asia
Overview
Pleurozium schreberi is a robust feather moss that forms loose, spreading carpets across forest floors, with creeping main shoots 2-6 inches (5-15 cm) long that branch in a regular feather-like pattern. The stems are a clear red to red-brown, a feature visible where the glossy yellow-green to olive leaves part. Individual leaves are small, concave, and rounded, overlapping along the stem and curving inward so the shoots look smooth and plump. It lacks true roots, flowers, and seeds, anchoring by slender rhizoids and reproducing by spores from stalked capsules and by fragmentation. The moss carpets the ground in boreal and northern temperate conifer forests, heaths, and bogs, often hosting nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria that add nitrogen to these ecosystems. Its range circles the Northern Hemisphere across North America, Europe, and Asia. It grows slowly and can be smothered where leaf litter accumulates heavily or where the canopy is removed and the surface dries.
Native Range
Pleurozium schreberi has a circumboreal distribution across North America, Europe, and Asia, extending from the Arctic into northern temperate regions. It grows on the floor of conifer forests, on heaths, and in bogs.Suggested Uses
Used in woodland and moss gardens, shaded naturalistic plantings, and on logs or peat beds in cool, humid sites. It forms a ground-covering carpet where soil is too acidic or shaded for turf. It suits terrariums and shaded container tops in moist conditions.How to Identify
Appearance
Size & Dimensions
Height2" - 6"
Bloom Information
Mosses do not flower. Pleurozium schreberi reproduces by spores released from reddish stalked capsules, which form infrequently, and spreads mainly by stem fragments and branching. Spore capsules, when produced, ripen in late spring to summer.
Detailed Descriptions
Foliage Description
glossy yellow-green to oliveGrowing Conditions
Sun Requirements
Tolerates up to 4 hours of direct sunlight daily
• Full Sun: 6+ hours of direct sunlight
• Partial Shade: 3-6 hours of direct sunlight
• Full Shade: Less than 3 hours of direct sunlight