Willow Moss

Willow moss, Fontinalis antipyretica, is an aquatic moss of the family Fontinalaceae with long, branched, trailing stems, sometimes reaching sixty centimeters, that attach to submerged rocks in both still water and fast-flowing streams across Europe, Asia, Greenland, Africa and much of North America. Its scientific name reflects a medieval European belief that the wet moss could help suppress fire, and before the popularity of tropical aquarium plants it was widely kept in cool-water aquaria as one of the most commonly cultivated aquatic mosses.