Moss

📖 In short

Moss is a tiny green plant with no flowers that grows packed together in huge numbers, making a soft, thick carpet on rocks, tree trunks and damp ground. Some people mix it up with algae. There are more than 9 thousand kinds.

🤩 Did you know?

There are more than 9000 kinds of mosses.
Moss spreads by spores, not seeds.
Moss can soak up many times its own weight in water.
Moss was one of the first plants to live on land.

🔎 Find out more

🌟 No real roots

Moss has no real roots, just tiny threads it uses to cling to rock or soil. It soaks up water through all its parts like a sponge.

🔍 It loves damp

Moss grows in shady, damp places like forests and the banks of streams. If it dries out it shrivels and turns brown, but it turns green again when it gets wet!

💡 Nature's compass

Some people say that in the northern half of the world, moss grows on the north side of trees because it's shadier and damper. But that's not always true, so don't rely on it alone!

🎯 Peat

A special moss grows in cold bogs, and when it dies it piles up in many layers and becomes a brown material called peat, which farmers add to the soil.