rock hard algae (?)

Discussion in 'Plants: Identification' started by RPBnimrod, Dec 14, 2008.

  1. RPBnimrod

    RPBnimrod Active Member

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  2. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    That's a high-altitude paramo moss. Couldn't help you on the exact species, but we have something very similar on the paramo rocks here in Ecuador. Looks like it should be lovely and soft, but it's hard as the rock it grows on.
     
  3. RPBnimrod

    RPBnimrod Active Member

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    I think you're right, thanks!
     
  4. Wojciech

    Wojciech Active Member

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    Lorax,
    is this real moss or any kind of flowering plant? As far as I know from my books in high places in Himalayas and Tibet there are many cushion plants from different groups. I don't know however how hard are these?
     
  5. Lila Pereszke

    Lila Pereszke Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Could be an Azorella compacta, or a similar Azorella species.
     
  6. Wojciech

    Wojciech Active Member

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  7. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    Wojciek, it could be another flowering plant that mimics moss (as Lila points out, it's an Azorella) but with the paramo cushion-plants (here, at least) it can be very tough to tell unless you see them in bloom, which normally happens right at the end of the dry season, when no sane person would be hiking up there anyhoo. I have no desire to be caught in a snowstorm or sucked into a quaking bog, so I generally don't deal with the paramo except in the height of summer.

    I'd presume that in the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateaux that the ground is significantly drier, so there would be the possibility of seeing blooms.
     

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