Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations
Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.
Where it actually grows measured, from 1,973 observations
| Condition | 5th percentile | Median | 95th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coldest month, mean daily low | -18.5 °C | -6.3 °C | 4.2 °C |
| Warmest month, mean daily high | 15.3 °C | 22.8 °C | 28.0 °C |
| Annual rainfall | 455 mm | 913 mm | 2,199 mm |
| Rainfall in the driest quarter | 56 mm | 134 mm | 321 mm |
It is found where winters are severely cold. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 1,973 research-grade observations of Polytrichum piliferum that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.
This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one.
Also published as 39 synonyms
A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.
- Polytrichum antarcticum Cardot
- Polytrichum hirsutum V.Leroy bis
- Polytrichum hoppei Hornsch.
- Polytrichum laevipilum Hampe
- Polytrichum nanoglobulus Müll.Hal.
- Polytrichum patagonicum Müll.Hal.
- Polytrichum piliferum f. epilosum Latzel
- Polytrichum piliferum f. fastigiatum (Lindb.) Margad.
- Polytrichum piliferum f. longisetum E.Bauer
- Polytrichum piliferum f. pauperum H.A.Möller
- Polytrichum piliferum f. procerum Bott.
- Polytrichum piliferum f. tectorum (Warnst.) Margad.
- Polytrichum piliferum f. trachynotum (Müll.Hal.) K.H.Walther
- Polytrichum piliferum f. tuberculosum (Müll.Hal.) K.H.Walther
- Polytrichum piliferum var. elegans E.Bauer
- Polytrichum piliferum var. fastigiatum (Lindb.) Bom. & Broth.
- Polytrichum piliferum var. flavipilum Luisier
- Polytrichum piliferum var. gracile Lindb.
- Polytrichum piliferum var. hoppei (Hornsch.) H.C.Hall
- Polytrichum piliferum var. horizontale Milde
- Polytrichum piliferum var. laevipilum (Hampe) Sull. & Lesq.
- Polytrichum piliferum var. proliferum Hartm.
- Polytrichum piliferum var. schiffneri E.Bauer
- Polytrichum piliferum var. tectorum Warnst.
and 15 more.
Sourcesevery claim on this page
- World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
- iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
- Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite. It has no native range either: Kew's checklist does not cover this taxon.