#alpine moss

[drhoz]

#2313 - Atrichopsis australe

Another moss from halfway up the cone of Mount Ruapehu.

Some sources have it as australis, and previous names include Polytrichum australe, Psilopilum australe and Notoligotrichum australe.

Related to the previous moss, but beyond that I don't have much info. Mosses in the Polytrichaceae have lamellae which sit perpendicular to the leaf surface, giving the leaves a thicker fleshy appearance compared to most moss. Here's a female plant, from the other side of the ridge west of where I was, found and identified by reingered on iNaturalist. They got most of the bryophyte IDs for me on this trip.

Mount Ruapehu, North Island Volcanic Plateau, New Zealand

[wildernessjournals]

Rock Gardens above Aweetasal Lake, Pinnacles Lakes Basin, John Muir Wilderness, Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, USA. Photo by Van Miller

[wildernessjournals]

Wet Meadow detail. Pemmican Lake, Pinnacles Lakes Basin, John Muir Wilderness, Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, USA. Photo by Van Miller

[wildernessjournals]

Delicate Alpine moss and grasses. Big Chief Lake, Pinnacles Lakes Basin, John Muir Wilderness, Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, USA. Photo by Van Miller

[wildernessjournals]

Spongy moss and grass rafts on Lake Pemmican, Pinnacles Lakes Basin, John Muir Wilderness, Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, USA. Photo by Van Miller

[wildernessjournals]

Pemmican Lake, Pinnacles Lakes Basin, John Muir Wilderness, Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, USA. Photo by Van Miller

[drhoz]

#2311 - Conostomum pentastichum - Apple Moss

In the lee of a north-facing lava cliff, sheltered by the overhang and watered by melting snow and ice, I found a small patch of moss and flowering plants. The larger one is a different species that I'll cover next, but the small star-shaped one was comprehensively mixed in.

C.pentastichum grows on soil and rock in alpine grass-heathlands in South America, Tasmania, New Zealand and a few subantarctic islands, and introduced to southern Africa.

Mount Ruapehu, North Island Volcanic Plateau, New Zealand

[beaverdangit]

alpine polytrichastrum moss (Polytrichastrum alpinum), spiky bog moss (Sphagnum squarrosum) and various