A shady plants exhibition featuring 500 mosses, ferns and herb plants has opened at Shanghai Botanical Garden in Xuhui District.

The indoors exhibition, which will run until October 31, uses microscopic magnification technologies to display the subtle morphology of plants.

Sound, light and electricity help to make the display interactive and more fun for visitors, organizers said.

Visitors are able to participate in do-it-yourself activities to create “plant paintings.”

The showcase includes nearly 100 fern plants ranging from several centimeters to over 3 meters. Fern has a variety of structures and shapes and prefers a warm, damp and shady forest environment, the garden operator said.

The fern group includes about 10,560 known extant species and some of them, such as cyathea, are listed as top-level protected plants in many countries.

Mosses, big small flowerless plants that typically grow in dense green clumps or mats, are a big family. There are about 21,000 known species.

In total, 18 species of mosses are displayed, all of them said to be making their debut at a Shanghai display. They are showcased in the form of a “micro landscape.”