Mosses are small flowerless plants that usually grow in dense green mats in damp locations. They, along with hornworts and liverworts share the property of not having vascular tissue and producing spores instead of flowers or seeds.
Octoblepharum albidum is a common hot-climate moss easy to recognize by its light white-green coloration. It loves palm trunks, often making large dense tufts. This clump is on a charred cabbage palm in a part of Seabranch recovering from a burn. (Photo by John Bradford)
Syrrhopodon incompletus is another palm-loving moss, sometimes making a blanket on the tree trunk. The edges of the leaves tend to be rolled in, and toothed, although the teeth are too small to see without a microscope. This moss is on a Saw Palmetto in the swampy bay gall, moist and shaded. The stalked brown cylinders are spore capsules.
The enchanted forest on a beautiful mossy day. Deep in the shaded bay gall habitat are fairylands of mosses, liverworts, and ferns...a pleasant refuge when the temperature in the sun is 90.
Let's call this Carpet Moss (or Isopterygium tenerum if you wish). In the deep moist shade, this might be the most abundant moss in Florida, creeping, branching, and carpeting fallen trees, tree roots, and moist soil. On the right appear the spore capsules characteristically kinked. You can't see it, but this moss makes microscopic bits of itself among the leaves. The wee bits break free and float away on a rainy day to help spread the carpet with clones.
Spagnum has a remarkable capacity to absorb and retain 20 to 30 times its weight in water. It is commonly called peat moss because over time it becomes compacted into peat.