Outdoor Elements
Taking a Shine to Shining Firmoss
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Even in late winter, nature has a way of catching your eye. While hiking a trail, Evie spotted a shiny green plant that stood out against the season — the Shining Firmoss. In this episode of Outdoor Elements, she takes a closer look at what makes this unique plant so special, how it reproduces, and why its slow-growing nature has led to it being a protected species in Michiga...
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Outdoor Elements is a local public television program presented by PBS Michiana
Outdoor Elements
Taking a Shine to Shining Firmoss
Clip | 4m 11sVideo has Closed Captions
Even in late winter, nature has a way of catching your eye. While hiking a trail, Evie spotted a shiny green plant that stood out against the season — the Shining Firmoss. In this episode of Outdoor Elements, she takes a closer look at what makes this unique plant so special, how it reproduces, and why its slow-growing nature has led to it being a protected species in Michiga...
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipIt's late winter and there aren't any leaves on the trees yet, so it's not very green except for a few spots on the forest floor.
While walking in a park in southwest Michigan, I came across a green patch of a really interesting plant.
Let's take a look.
So there's a patch of shining club moss, or sometimes known as shining firmoss here, growing on the slopes.
Club mosses get their name from a little capsule, usually at the tip of the plant, that bears spores.
But shining fir moss is a little bit different.
It can grow in these clumps because it spreads by some interesting strategies.
First of all, it can spread by underground rhizomes, and each stalk can get to be about oh 8 to 10in tall.
But oftentimes they flop over a little bit.
And this time of year they're often kind of covered up by some of the leaves.
So it's hard to tell how tall they are.
Another way that this particular club, Moss reproduces is by little capsules called spore ranga, that grow at the base of the leaves and then release spores, usually in late summer or early fall.
But one other interesting way for this plant to spread is by gamma.
And those are a little tiny, almost bud like structures.
Sometimes in some plants, they're single cells, sometimes multiple cells that fragment off of the plant and drop down and then sprout up as a new plant.
The spore system takes the longest, and in many cases for shining club moss and other club mosses.
It might take 20 years for a plant to grow, to be able to be a reproductive plant.
Because of that.
Club mosses like shining firmus are protected in Michigan.
Their growth is very, very slow, so they cannot be transplanted, sold, etc.
in in Michigan, as a protected species.
If you look very closely, if you have a hand lens, the leaves are tinier at the base of the stock and then a little bit longer towards the tip.
And very, very fine teeth can be seen on parts of the leaves, which you got to look really, really closely.
Shining firmoss gets its name for its beautiful shiny leaves and bright green color that we can often spot in the woods, especially in late winter.
Club masses are really fascinating.
They differ from regular moss that common moss that we might think of in that regular moss or common mosses don't have true roots or stems, but club mosses do, so that's how they differ.
Fun to look for if you're in, dappled sunny woods, often on a slope, sometimes near a wetland.
But they do require acidic soil and very rich soil.
Lots of whom humus, so that they have nutrients to grow.
Take a look.
If you're in the right habitat for club moss remember you can find your own outdoor elements when you visit area parks and natural areas.
We'll see you soon.
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Outdoor Elements is a local public television program presented by PBS Michiana