Hypnaceae is a large family of moss

Moss

Mosses are small, soft plants that are typically 1–10 cm tall, though some species are much larger. They commonly grow close together in clumps or mats in damp or shady locations. They do not have flowers or seeds, and their simple leaves cover the thin wiry stems...

 with broad worldwide occurrence. in the class Bryopsida

Bryopsida

The Bryopsida constitute the largest class of mosses, containing 95% of all moss species. It consists of approximately 11,500 species, common throughout the whole world....

, subclass Bryidae

Bryidae

Bryidae is an important subclass of Bryopsida. It is common throughout the whole world. Members have a double peristome with alternating tooth segments.-Classification:The classification of the Bryidae.Superorder: Bryanae...

 and order Hypnales

Hypnales

Hypnales is an order of moss.-Classification:...

. Genera include Hypnum and Ptilium.

Ecology

Some of the family species occur on the floor of Canadian boreal forests; an example of this occurrence is within the Black Spruce

Black Spruce

Picea mariana is a species of spruce native to northern North America, from Newfoundland west to Alaska, and south to northern New York, Minnesota and central British Columbia...

/Feathermoss climax forest

Climax community

In ecology, a climax community, or climatic climax community, is a biological community of plants and animals which, through the process of ecological succession — the development of vegetation in an area over time — has reached a steady state. This equilibrium occurs because the climax community...

, often having moderately dense canopy and featuring a forest floor of feathermosses including, Hylocomium splendens

Hylocomium splendens

Hylocomium splendens, commonly known as Glittering Wood-moss, Stair-step Moss and Mountain Fern Moss, is a perennial clonal moss with a widespread distribution in Northern Hemisphere boreal forests. It is commonly found in Europe, Russia, Alaska and Canada, where it is often the most abundant moss...

, Pleurozium schreberi and Ptilium crista-castrensis

Ptilium crista-castrensis

Ptilium crista-castrensis is a moss species within the family Hypnaceae, in the class Bryopsida, subclass Bryidae and order Hypnales.-Ecology:...

.

Classification