invades the scruffy urban lawn grass
- Size
- Height: 5–15 cm
- Lifespan
- 5–10 years
- Diet
- Obtains nutrients via photosynthesis. Requires consistent moisture and rich organic soil. Grows on lawns, pastures, and disturbed ground.
- Habitat
- Grows on lawns, pastures, and disturbed ground throughout New Zealand. Forms scruffy, outward-splaying mats that invade grass.
- Range
- Found throughout the North and South Islands on forest floor, rotting logs, and damp banks in shaded forests. Most common in lowland and montane forests with consistent moisture. Also found in temperate regions worldwide.
- Endemism
- Introduced
- Main Threats
- None significant. This species is common and widespread. Localised threats include forest clearance, stream modification, and climate change reducing forest floor moisture.
- Population
- Not Threatened. Rhytidium feather moss is an introduced species that has become naturalised in New Zealand. It is common in lawns, pastures, and disturbed ground throughout the country.
- Conservation Status
- Introduced
- Human Risk
- harmless
- Handling Note
- common moss, safe to handle
- Conservation Note
- Introduced moss; widespread in disturbed habitats and not subject to conservation assessment.
- Te Ao Māori
- No recorded Māori name distinguishes the rhytidium feather moss from other mosses. It is an introduced species. A newcomer to New Zealand. It arrived after the time of the ancestors. The rhytidium feather moss is a lawn invader. A scruffy, outward-splaying moss that creeps into your grass and refuses to leave. It is the moss of the garden. The lawn. The paddock. The one that has made itself at home in our disturbed landscapes.
It invades your lawn. It refuses to leave.
Rhytidiadelphus squarrosus looks like it needs a haircut. It has stems that are creeping and sprawling. Reaching 5 to 10 centimetres in length. With leaves that are arranged in a loose, feathery pattern. The leaves are long, narrow, and sharply pointed. But they stick out at right angles from the stem. Squarrose in botanical terms. Giving the plant a starry, bristly, outward-splaying appearance. The colour is yellowish-green to dark green. Often with a golden sheen. It forms loose, sprawling mats that invade lawns and pastures. Spreading through the grass like it owns the place. It is the moss of the scruffy lawn. The one with the outward-splaying attitude.
What makes it special is the splay. Rhytidium feather moss has leaves that stick out at right angles from the stem. A distinctive feature that makes it easy to recognise. The squarrose (outward-splaying) leaves give the moss a starry, bristly appearance. As if it is trying to take up as much space as possible. It is the moss of the wide stance. The one that spreads out like it owns the ground. The one that is impossible to miss once you know what to look for.
The leaves are long and narrow. With a distinct midrib and a sharply pointed tip. The leaf margins are entire (smooth). And the leaves are pleated (plicate) when dry. Under a hand lens, the squarrose leaves are striking. Each leaf projecting outward at a perfect right angle. Biologically, the rhytidium feather moss reproduces by spores. Released from capsules on short stalks. It also spreads by fragmentation. Pieces broken off can grow into new plants. It is a pioneer species. Often one of the first mosses to colonise bare ground in disturbed areas. To find rhytidium feather moss is to look down at your lawn. There it is. A scruffy, yellowish-green mat of starry, outward-splaying leaves. Creeping through the grass like it owns the place. It is the moss of the lawn invasion. The one with the outward-splaying attitude. The one that proves that the most successful plants are often the most aggressive.