LUMINOUS MOSS

also called Elfin-gold (Schistostega pennata; formerly S. osmundacea), light-reflecting plant of the order Bryales, native to the Northern Hemisphere. It forms green mats in caves, holes in wood or earth, or cavities between rocks or under tree roots. A luminous moss is about one centimetre (1/2 inch) or more tall. The lower part of the caulid (stem) is bare, and the upper part has two rows of phyllids (leaves), causing the plant to resemble a small fern frond. Male plants have budlike reproductive organs. The small capsule (spore case) of the female plant resembles a pinhead. The golden-green appearance of the moss is caused by reflection of light from chlorophyll grains in lens-shaped cells of the protonema (the structure that produces the sexual plant by budding).