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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Dog days of summer
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Camels in the desert, United Arab Emirates
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Spring comes to the Diablo foothills
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Trevi in bloom
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Overseas Highway, Florida Keys
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Kawachi Fuji Garden
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Bird’s-eye view of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California
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Rapa Valley in Sarek National Park, Sweden
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Queen Elizabeth s Platinum Jubilee
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Glenfinnan Viaduct
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Humpbacks return to the Inside Passage
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Space-age style by the sea
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Ahh-tumn
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International Museum Day
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A day to celebrate the sun
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Loud waters
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A path to access
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A narrow passage
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Longs Peak, Rocky Mountain National Park
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Aw shucks, it’s oyster season in Galway
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The Vestibule at Diocletian s Palace, Split, Croatia
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Seattle Central Library, Seattle, Washington
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Big dreams require a big sleigh
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A prison fit for a count
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Gray days ahead in Monterey
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Roques de Benet, Els Ports Natural Park, Catalonia, Spain
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Here we mark the price of freedom
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World Population Day
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National Park Week: Everglades National Park
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The meeting point of the winds