Cave Moss
Cave moss is a sessile lifeform from Abyss. It's a small, plant-like organism commonly found in cool, wet environments, where it feeds on decaying organic matter.
It grows small herbaceous stems with tiny leaves that aid in respiration, as well as intake of water and diluted nutrients. It doesn't grow any flowers, only longer, lighter green stems from which the spores are dispersed.
It's a rather simple lifeform, biologically speaking, somewhere between plant and fungus. It's also very hardy, and spread easily via its spores that can even survive exposure to the vacuum of space. Despite typically being a dark green color, cave moss is not photosynthetic, but purely a decomposer.
Cave moss grows in a variety of environments, as long as sufficient liquid water, rotting organic matter, and an oxygen-rich atmosphere are present. From unmaintained wooden structures to lakeside meadows to wet cave floors (hence the name), it's likely that cave moss can live there. That also makes it a common invasive species.
In some areas where cave moss is especially abundant, it's also used as livestock feed, and occasionally as food by sapient species. Though no varieties are known to produce toxins, like all lifeforms it can cause averse reactions in species with a different enough biochemistry.
Among spacefaring species, cave moss is widely considered a nuisance, as it can foul bilge tanks, hydroponics systems and other infrastructure. At the same time, it can also be useful, and in some places is used to help with recycling organic matter.
Incidentally, cave moss is fairly commonly used by inorganic species for that latter purpose, especially on stations with frequent visitors (such as travelling merchants and ship crews) from organic species. They often let it spread across seldom maintained areas as an indicator for organic pollution. In some places, it's used as an ornamental ground- or wall-covering plant.
Geographic Distribution