Taxiphyllum moss

Taxiphyllum alternans reached the hobby as Taiwan moss, although it is still unclear whether it grows wild in Taiwan at all. Prof. Benito C. Tan in Singapore later identified it. It is a creeping moss from temperate to subtropical climates in the south-eastern United States and eastern Asia, where it grows on soil and exposed tree roots, on rotting wood in swamps, and on rocks along small streams and waterfalls.

In the tank it looks a lot like Java moss, Taxiphyllum barbieri, and it is just as undemanding. Under good light, though, it branches more densely and regularly, building fronds with a triangular outline. Under a microscope the two separate easily: T. alternans has teeth only near the leaf tip, while the whole leaf margin of T. barbieri is finely serrated. Spiky moss and peacock moss branch in a similar way but have broader, stronger shoots, and Christmas moss has wider, rounder leaves set at almost a right angle to the stem.

Use it wherever you would use Christmas moss, tied to wood or stone, keeping in mind that its structure is finer. It grows slowly and suits nano tanks. It grows at 12 to 30 °C and pH 5 to 8, in light from low to high. To propagate, split off pieces and attach them somewhere new.