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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A lunar lantern celebration
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A hit ballet, long after its debut
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Lupine fields, Snæfellsnes, Iceland
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Midsummer in Sweden
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Mada in Saleh, Saudi Arabia
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The Guggenheim turns 60
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Zion National Park, Utah
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50 years of the Endangered Species Act
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Cloudy with a chance of enlightenment
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International Day for Biological Diversity
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Beech trees and wild anemones, Jutland, Denmark
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Elbphilharmonie concert hall in Hamburg, Germany
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A river runs through it
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Frost-covered dunes on Mars
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Ocean City, Maryland, at sunrise
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Ode to the sun
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Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve
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A universe underground
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Bavarian Forest National Park, Germany
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Guiding ships to safety
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A notorious advocate for women
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World Population Day
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Coral Reef Awareness Week
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A sea of swirling stone
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Land of the midnight sun
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Mountains fit for a queen
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Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park
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Welcome to the Year of the Pig
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Penn Station
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American bison, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Bing Wallpaper Gallery

