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Syntrichia caninervis
Also called Steppe Screw Moss
Tortula moss (Syntrichia caninervis), also called steppe screw moss, is a small desert moss found across many dry regions of the world. It survives long dry spells and grows best when it can absorb moisture from dew, fog, snow, or rain.
Syntrichia caninervis, also known as steppe screw moss, is a desert moss species distributed throughout the world. As an extremophile, it is able to withstand desiccation under dry conditions with little access to water and is commonly found in hypolithic communities. It makes use of a novel adaptation to the desert environment to harvest and collect water sources such as dew, fog, snow, and rain, using tiny hairs instead of roots. In laboratory experiments, S. caninervis has shown the ability to survive in a simulated Martian environment.
S. caninervis has a widespread global distribution and is an extremophile commonly found in extreme desert environments and hypolithic communities with the capacity to withstand desiccation under dry conditions. It has been observed growing in China, Mongolia, Siberia, central and southwestern Asia, Europe, and North America. In Tibet, Antarctica, and circumpolar regions, it is part of the biological soil crust, which is a resilient type of ground cover often found in arid lands. In North America, the plant is found throughout the western and northwestern United States and in two western Canadian provinces. In the United States, it is found as far east as New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana, all the way through Idaho, Utah, Arizona, and Nevada, and as far west as California, Oregon, and Washington. Two of the most common plant communities in the United States are found in the Mojave Desert and in the Columbia River drainage basin. In Canada, it is found in British Columbia and Alberta.
Sarconeurum glaciale · Sarconeurum · Wideleaf Tortula Moss · Great hairy screw-moss · Syntrichia · Tortula moss
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Syntrichia caninervis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
