The mosses on the floor of the rainforest at Booyong are enchanting and this Umbrella Moss discovered along the new Meadow track recently was no exception. The Umbrella moss’s scientific name is Hypopterygium rotulatum and it is so pretty, especially when glistening in the wet.

Mosses are a plenty within the Booyong rainforest due to the damp and wooded areas with low light and close access to creeks. I’m new to learning about mosses so I will do my best to explain what I understand (any feedback or information about mosses is welcome). Botanically, mosses are non-vascular plants. They are small (a few centimeters tall) herbaceous (non-woody) plants that absorb water and nutrients mainly through their leaves and harvest carbon dioxide and sunlight to create food by photosynthesis.

Life begins with a haploid spore which germinates to produce a protonema (mass of thread like filaments similar to green felt) and these grow on damp soil, tree barks, rock or concrete. From here the mass transforms differentially into stems and leaves and develops several shoots resulting in a carpet of moss.

I have noticed so many varieties within the rainforest and they are fascinating!