The Moss Room Restaurant

Amy over at Cells in Culture visited the California Academy of Sciences during winter vacation. She came across a restaurant called the Moss Room, pictured here and below. The online photo is a little far away for an ID, but Amy's up close assessment was that the wall is covered by mats of dried Sphagnum (peat moss). The wall also looks to include some ferns, bromeliads (pineapple relatives), and maybe an orchid, just above the E and M in the sign. From the photos the moss looks pretty brown and not very green in spots, leading me to think that some of it may no longer be alive. And that is too bad as keeping moss alive doesn't take much more than a little water and light.

I think that their logo featuring two sporophytes is neat, however it does not appear botanically accurate. Sporophytes consist of a single capsule (sporangium) that contains spores, elevated on an unbranched stalk. Their logo looks as though the two stalks are attached at the base, which is just not so. But it was probably not designed by a botanist, so we will cut them a little slack.

The menu features Grilled Monterey Squid-chickpeas and jalapeno pesto/ Smoked Trout. Needless to say this restaurant's food is a little outside of the price range of a Grad Student, but Amy did get the free photo of the moss wall. Thanks for use of the photo Amy!