#1478 - Funaria hygrometrica - Bonfire Moss
A bright orange moss in Yalgorup National Park, south of Perth, growing in thick mats after the devastating bushfire of 2016.
Also known as common cord-moss, little goldilocks, and golden maidenhair. It’s normally green, but the distinctively asymmetrical, grooved antheridia are this spectacular golden-orange.
It grows on moist, shady, and damp soil, moist walls and the crevices of rocks. Frequently around around human dwellings and dairies, with a distinct preference for higher nitrogen levels and recently burnt sites. The species completes its life cycle quickly before weathering, microbes and other plants make the habitat - nutrient poor upper levels of the soil - unsuitable. It may also indicate the site of an old camp fire, fire pit or human dwelling.
Found over most of the world, and in nurseries and greenhouses it is sometimes regarded as a weed. It also makes a good mid-sized moss for bonsai pots. The hardiness, vigor and size also make it an excellent teaching example of a moss lifecycle.