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Syntrichia ruralis + springtails, Heesch, Netherlands
This scene too has 2 "hidden" springtails in it. I swear, I wasn't even trying.
ID tentative. The dutch name "Little dune star" led me to believe this can't be the species, as it's described to grow on sand/dunes. I live nowhere near that, and this cluster is even growing on dead wood (our bird feeder). Still I keep coming back to this species ID, so hope it is correct. Example of a reference:
https://waarneming.nl/photos/32494917/
Most interesting part are the long "glass hairs", which are typically white yet there are examples of more orange ones (unless those are misidentified). The purpose of these hairs is to reflect sunlight, protecting the moss from drying out. Hardly needed currently, we haven't had a dry day in 6 weeks.
''Tortula ruralis'', commonly known as twisted moss and star moss, is a species of moss with a cosmopolitan distribution. It occurs in North America, the Pacific, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, North and South Africa, South America, and Australia. It grows in many types of climate, including the Arctic, boreal areas, temperate areas, and deserts. It grows in tundra, coniferous forest, grassland, sagebrush, and other habitat types.
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