You may be surprised to learn that this elegant plant dappled with water droplets is a variety of moss: Tortula muralis, better known as wall screw-moss. It"s found all over the world, even in urban areas where more sensitive mosses have a hard time thriving because of dry soil and air pollution. Mosses in general are accurate monitors of air pollution—they absorb air and water, so contaminants can also be measured in their cells.
Tortula moss, Netherlands
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
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Winter scenery near Kuhmo, Finland
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Shakespeare Day
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Village of Santa Maddalena, Dolomites, Italy
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I ll call for pen and ink
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Dog days of summer
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Horse Head Rock, New South Wales, Australia
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A hermitage with a view
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Coming home to roost
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Happy Independence Day!
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Wildebeests in Maasai Mara, Kenya
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Leaves of Grass
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Chestnut-headed bee-eaters, Bardia National Park, Nepal
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Dusky eagle-owls, Pakistan
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New Year s Day
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Chicagohenge
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Travels to the Oregon deep
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Next stop, Tofino
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The Belogradchik Rocks in Bulgaria
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Arches National Park, Utah
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When in Rome...celebrate Saturnalia
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Singing praises of the oceans
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A young jaguar on a riverbank, Pantanal, Brazil
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Design for Each and All
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Provence blooms with lavender at Sénanque Abbey
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International Literacy Day
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20 years later
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Killer whales in Spildra, Norway
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Inside the Oculus
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These patterns tell a story
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Maple and bamboo forests in Arashiyama, Kyoto, Japan
Bing Wallpaper Gallery

