Stair-step Moss

Stair-step moss, Hylocomium splendens, also called glittering woodmoss, is a moss of the family Hylocomiaceae recognizable by its branches, which arch upward each year from the midpoint of the previous year's growth, building a stepped, feathery structure whose annual layers can be counted to estimate the plant's age. Olive green to reddish in color, it dominates the forest floor of boreal and subalpine forests across Europe, Russia, Alaska and Canada, and also grows in Arctic tundra and at high elevation in more southern regions including California, Sichuan, East Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the West Indies; in Scotland it is a defining ground-layer species of the Caledonian Forest.