As there is no snow this winter in southern Sweden – but rain there is – mosses seem to grow more than ever in the damp environment. Shining green, they light up all the grey and the darkness. So more than ever we have a green winter this year.

According to Wikipedia, mosses are a botanical division of small, soft plants that are typically 1–10 cm (0.4–4 in) tall, though some species are much larger, like Dawsonia, the tallest moss in the world (found in NZ for example) which can grow to 50 cm in height. They commonly grow close together in clumps or mats in damp or shady locations. They do not have flowers or seeds, and their simple leavescover the thin wiry stems. At certain times mosses produce spore capsules which may appear as beak-like capsules borne aloft on thin stalks.

There are approximately 12,000 species of moss classified in the Bryophyta, a division that formerly included not only mosses, but also liverworts and hornworts. These other two groups of bryophytes are now placed in their own divisions.

Moss covering great parts of the ground under the trees.

They climb the trunks and some trees are totally covered.

Tiny brown spore capsules on their thin stalks.

Every stone is more or less covered in a soft coat of green.