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Today’s adventure turned out to be quite an interesting science project. I started this morning studying about moss and lichen, debating whether to order some for the vivarium. After reading various articles about moss and lichen, I decided to venture into the rain and see what I might have growing in the woods out back. I hit the jackpot!

I’m going to, once I finish writing this, hunt a bit online to see if I can identify what species of moss I found. But what I noticed (and harvested) are at least three different kinds distinguished by where they were growing.

First, there was the stuff that grows on the ground (close-up). It’s kind of spikey, and reminds me of a palm tree. I also got a clump that had spore capsules.

Next is the stuff that grows on rocks (close-up). This moss seems to be a combination of two different kinds. What you mostly see are broad-leaves with a few fern-looking stem/leaf combinations thrown in. In this picture, you can see also that growing along with this moss are what appear to be clovers. Since it happened that way naturally, I left it.

Finally, there’s the stuff that grows on trees (close-up). This type definitely looks fern-like. The other interesting observation is that, unlike the other two that seemed to grow in random directions, this stuff grows directionally in nature , with the stems all aligned vertically and growing/pointing up the tree-trunk.

So, I put the moss in the vivarium in the same places I found it outside; ground-moss went on the ground, rock-moss went on rocks and tree-moss when on/near wood. I also decided to remove some plants and rearrange things. After doing more research about the plants I have, I’m afraid that the palm and ferns are going to grow sufficiently that some of the other ‘fillers’ in there would just be too much.

So, as of right now, here’s what it looks like.