I find it pretty exciting that the world’s tallest moss is located in New Zealand. This towering behemoth reaches up to 60 cm in height!
New Zealand is home to a wide array of fascinating and unique plants and animals. The southernmost palm tree in the world can be found here (nihau palm). There are flightless birds (kiwis) and insects (wetas), and ancient reptiles (tuataras). Another one of the cool, lesser known wonders is a simple moss. The Dawsonia Superba is the tallest moss in the world.
What Is A Moss?
To begin, let’s talk a little bit about what a moss is. A moss is a type of non-flowering plant that reproduces by making spores. It does not have flowers or seeds.
They tend to be soft, spongy, low growing plants that grow near water. Mosses don’t have roots.
There are about 10,000 different types of mosses throughout the world. New Zealand is home to over 500 species, about 20% of which are endemic.
What Is The World’s Tallest Moss?
Dawsonia superba is the tallest moss in the world. The family Dawsonia has many species, including the superba, which is the tallest.
Some Facts About The World’s Tallest Moss
Dawsonia Superba tends to grow in bunches with many stems in a small area.
Each erect spike or tall stem is an individual plant. When I first saw these growing on the forest floor I thought that they looked kind of like a pine seedling because they are straight with small green, pointy leaves.
These giant plants (remember giant is a relative term here) grow up to 50 or even 60 cm in height!
Dawson superba is widespread in moist forest areas of New Zealand. It also grows in Australia and New Guinea.