NANFA-- Christmas moss

sorinus (sorin_at_imajis.com)
Tue, 13 Feb 2001 19:07:29 -0500

Hello and thank you very much for your kind reply full of information.
Do you still have access to those two species you mentioned (decalaria
and gracillis)?
I will gladly pay for a small live sample of each species. I just talked
with someone which is working with mosses and he recommended a
monography on US species. The monography is the most compreshenvive,
written until today, it comes in two volumes ...but it costs over
...$200. I was wondering if there is anybody around with access to a
University library and kind enough to make some photocopies of the pages
with Fontinalis. I will of course recompensate the effort, and I will
make free copies for other interested people. If yes, I will provide
the name of the monography.
Regards
sorin

Jeffrey Fullerton wrote:
>
> > Subject: NANFA-- Christmas moss
> >
> > RE: Red shinner thread/
> >
> > Sorry about my ignorance, but what is the Christmas moss?
> > Can you tell the scientific name, please? Looks like a native species.
> > I always been interested in aquatic moss (besides the ubiquitous
> > tropical Vesicularia dubyana) and I am wondering if this Christmas moss
> > is a Fontinalis or Amblystegium species.
> > Anyone knows how many native, fully aquatic moss species are in US?
> > Thanks
> > sorin
> >
> >
> Hello
>
> The two most common varieties in the US known to aquarists and water
> gardeners are species of Willow Moss- Fontanalis. I have Fontanalis
> antipyretica which us the larger of the two and has very dark green
> scale like leaves and grows in long flowing masses in some streams
> locally. I've seen it even more abundant in intermittant streams in
> northern Virginia where it often blanketed the clay bottom and grew as a
> terrestrial form when the streams dried up in the summer and late fall.
> Elsewhere I usually find it less abundant and usually grows on rocks or
> wood.
>
> F. antipyretica - aka the 'Incombustable Moss' so named for its fire
> retardant properties when it was once used as a filler material for
> whatever in days of old. I never have much luck with it in a tank but
> outdoors it fares better.
>
> Perhaps the best one for inside is F. gracillis (possibly the same plant
> as F. decalaria) - not sure of the official common name but I call it
> the smaller Willow Moss! Much finer in habit closer to Java Moss of the
> aquarium trade and sometimes sold. Very wide range - I have collected it
> locally and in a stream near Gulf Hammock Florida and last summer with
> Ray in Wisconsin! It holds up much better than F. antipyretica in the
> aquarium and I've used it sometimes in jars for raising pygmy sunfishes
> , salamander larvae and Broken-striped Newts!
>
> In my pond and watercourse I grow both species by tying them onto peices
> of waterlogged driftwood which I strap onto a brick or rock and sink to
> the bottom. Great spawning medium for fish. Also have a thick mat of F.
> antipyretica on top of the lava rock in the biofilter at the head of the
> watercourse.
>
> One problem with willow mosses is that they accumulate algae. Since I've
> seen the smaller variant growing in full sun in the wild I am sure it's
> related to the problem I've had with milfoil. Related to my water since
> the wild plants were free of algae. A temporary remedy is to move the
> moss along with its holdfast to a shady location for a while or even
> grow them terrestrially in the shade for a while. Out of water the moss
> converts to a greenish fuzz that thightly hugs the log or stone and
> quickly reverts back to long flowing strands when returned to the water.
> This is sort of like the way the stuff in Virginia used to grow.
>
> There is another species which grows in cold springs and streams in our
> mountains. The name I do not know but it is has even bigger scales than
> larger of the two previous species. I don't mess with it because it is
> not likely to survive in a tank without a chiller!
>
> Jeff
>
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/-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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/ reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American Native Fishes
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/ nanfa_at_aquaria.net. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get help, send the word
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/ For more information about NANFA, visit our web page, http://www.nanfa.org