Erect moss

Care at a glance

Overview

Tie or glue a thin mat to hardscape and let the upright growth build a soft, layered texture, which makes it a favorite for nano tanks and moss walls. It is more demanding than a basic Java moss: it looks its best with moderate to strong light, added CO2 and steady dosing, and it stays a slow grower. Trim it back regularly to keep the shape tight and to stop lower layers from browning out, and propagate simply by dividing a clump and reattaching it.

In the wild

Vesicularia reticulata is widely distributed through the Asian tropics, where it grows in moist habitats on rock, wood and soil near water. Submerged in an aquarium its stems and branches grow noticeably upright, which is where the trade name erect moss comes from, while its emersed land form instead creeps along surfaces. Like most aquatic mosses it lives as an epiphyte with no true roots.

Good to know

It is a moss traditionally placed in the family Hypnaceae, closely related to the Christmas moss Vesicularia montagnei, though recent molecular work moves the genus toward Pylaisiaceae. Its leaves are ovate to lanceolate and drawn out into a fine long tip, giving branch ends a feathery point. The genus Vesicularia is under ongoing revision and some of these hobby mosses are being reassigned to Taxiphyllum, so names in this group are not fully settled.

Did you know

Unlike most aquarium mosses that flop and trail, erect moss actually grows toward the light in tidy vertical shoots, so a well-kept patch looks like a miniature forest of tiny green pine trees.

Related plants

• 

  Christmas moss

  Vesicularia montagnei

  Low lightEpiphyte2 in (5 cm)

• 

  Singapore moss

  Vesicularia dubyana

  Low lightEpiphyte2 in (5 cm)

• 

  Weeping moss

  Vesicularia ferriei

  Low lightEpiphyte2 in (5 cm)
• Peacock moss

  Taxiphyllum sp. 'Peacock'

  Low lightEpiphyte2 in (5 cm)
• Spiky moss

  Taxiphyllum sp. 'Spiky'

  Low lightEpiphyte2 in (5 cm)
• Flame moss

  Taxiphyllum sp. 'Flame'

  Low lightEpiphyte3.1 in (8 cm)