Rising from the "dead"

     Hedwigia ciliata is an amazing moss.  When dormant during a dry period, it can appear deader than a doornail (for you foreign readers, that is an idiom meaning something is really, really dead).  The first photo shows it in that state.  The second photo shows it while hydrated.  You can prove that to yourself by closely looking at particular parts of the photos.  Amazingly, this moss goes from "dead to alive" in only five seconds!  Quite a sight to behold.
     The fourth photo shows H. ciliata on the left side of a rock.  The last photo shows a very large, dense mass of it growing on top of a wall in full sun in Kyoto, Japan.
      I only find it growing on rocks, almost always granite ones, both in sunny and shady areas.  Quite the tough cookie.