Weeping Moss

Weeping Moss came out of China and was identified as Vesicularia ferriei by the botanist B. C. Tan; the species also grows in southern Japan, on wet rocks under sandy soil, on damp riverbanks and beside small streams. Submerged it is recognised by frond shaped shoots that hang clearly downward, the habit that earns the name. Its leaves resemble those of Christmas moss, Vesicularia montagnei, with broad leaf cells, but they end blunt rather than drawn out to a fine point.

It became popular first with aquascapers in Asia and spread to European tanks quickly, because it asks little in the way of light or fertiliser. Genuine weeping moss is still hard to find, since many mosses are sold under the name without the weeping habit at all.

Because the shoots hang, the plant shows best tied to wood or to a stone edge with space below it. Under very low light the growth turns horizontal instead and that effect is lost. Its cultivation range is 15 to 30 °C, pH 5 to 7, carbonate hardness 0 to 14 dKH, and light from low to high, with carbon dioxide at 20 to 40 mg/l. Growth is slow. Split a mat to propagate.