Isn't this otherworldly?

It's a photo of the capsules growing on a patch of hairy cap moss (Polytrichum) not too far from the new bluebird house we put up in the meadow. I think it's juniper hairy cap moss, but I could be wrong. The leafy part of the plant is star-shaped, and some of the patches of the moss nearby have red splash cups.

I don't know much about mosses, and I've had a hard time finding a good basic book about them. I am reading Janice M. Glime's The Elfin World of Mosses and Liverworts of Michigan's Upper Penninsula and Isle Royale. That's a big title for a book about such little things: the stalks in the picture above are only about 1 inch tall.

From what I've read, hairy cap moss is unlike other mosses because it has the ability to get most of the water it needs from the soil. It can do this because it has an internal vascular system. Many other mosses depend on moving water around on their outsides. I think the internal vascular system explains why hairy cap moss can thrive in the dry spots of the meadow

If anyone can recommend another book on mosses, I'd be grateful.