Leucobryum glaucum
BioImages
White Cushion Moss is a
common moss
which forms a thick cushion. It can be white, grayish, or
bluish-green. It grows about one to three inches
tall. This moss often grows in
a ball shape, but it can also form a mat almost three feet
across. White Cushion Moss grows
in moist woods or marshes;
anywhere there is shade and water. It can be found growing
on soil, rotting logs, bases of living or dead tree trunks,
or rock ledges. Copyright, K. H. Linne
von Berg Like all mosses, White
Cusion Moss does not have roots or flowers. Mosses have
stems with many tiny leaves on them. Leaves are only a few
milimeters long. Since it has no roots,
White Cushion Moss absorbs water through its leaves like a
sponge. To reproduce, this moss sends up tiny
stalks,
called "sporophytes." When the spores
inside are grown, the stalk bends and the top of it opens
up, letting the spores fall out. Spores are the equivalent
of seeds in a flowering plant, but are not exactly the same.
Spores will travel by wind to form new plants.
Walter Obermayer
Like all mosses, White
Cushion Moss provides shelter
for small animals, especially insects. Some tiny creatures,
such as Water Bears, actually eat the moss. Many birds use moss to
line their nests. Mosses help the whole
environment, because they hold moisture for long periods of
time. They will slowly let the moisture out into the soil.
This helps other plants, animals, and fungi
grow when there is a drought. White Cushion Moss,
and other mosses, also help prevent erosion,
the moving of soil and nutrients
in a flood, by holding them in place.
