Red-stemmed Feathermoss

Red-stemmed feathermoss, Pleurozium schreberi, is a moss of the family Hylocomiaceae named for the reddish color of its stem beneath a loose covering of glossy green leaves, with side branches radiating outward in a feathery pattern. It is one of the most abundant ground-cover mosses of the boreal forest floor across Canada, Scandinavia and northern Russia, commonly forming thick carpets beneath black spruce alongside other feathermosses, and it is considered a characteristic component of the black spruce and feathermoss climax forest community of the northern boreal zone.