Acrocarpus and Pleurocarpus

Acrocarpus moss is a moss that grows straight up with little branching. The sporophytes come from the top of the
Pleurocarpus moss grows along the ground and has branches. The sporophytes come off of the edge of the stems.

Water Friends

Moss loves water
Moss is patient
it waits
water will come
one day
then it springs into action!
making energy
love
children
then water slowly goes
and the time is for waiting
waiting
for water

Moss love

It's springtime, and the moss world is already busy making use of the now warm days and sunshine. Sporophytes are starting to push up from the already lush mats. They look like very soft long hairs, almost like shag carpet. On some moss, the sporophytes are already forming globes on the tip of the seta. The capsules are pregnant full of spores developing for the day they get released into the air. Released with the wind on the off chance that they may land in a place suitable for a young protonema to grow. Once organized, the protonema can then form a new gametophyte a new genetically special moss. Sex is a very beautiful and amazing thing. In the moss world, it is truly extrodinary that it happens at all. Each sporophyte is a small miracle.

The Sexy Moss

Entodon seductrix is also known as the carpet moss. Commonly found on rotting logs in huge mats of green. This moss is definitely one of my favorite. It has red capsules that may have given this species its name.

Sporophyte

The sporophyte in mosses is a capsule on a seta. A seta is the long stalk that the capsule perches on. The seta normally grows to the edge of the boundry layer. A layer of protection provided by turbulent wind. Once above the boundry layer, wind moves faster and will eventually spread the spores produced by the capsule. The capsule will have a calyptra (an outer coating, and the remains of the archegonia). In some moss the Calyptra is hairy, thus the name "hair cap mosses". The calyptra will fall off revealing an operculum. The Operculum is a cap that sits on the end of the capsule. The operculum will also fall off when the time is right. Under the operculum is a set of teeth, a peristome. These teeth open and close releasing spores into the air.

Costa

The costa on a moss leaf is similar to a midrib on a "normal" leaf. In moss, some costas are two pronged, others are extremely short. Some costas extend past the leaf other end shortly after beginning. Some moss don't even have a costa! None the less, they can prove a useful identifying character.

Lamellae

Lamellae are a cool structure on some moss leaves. They are used to maximize photosynthesis. In some cases, the leaves curl completely over the lamellae and create a "greenhouse" where air circulation can be regulated! This is a picture of Polytrichum commune, with "normal" lamellae.

Life Cycle

The life cycle of Moss is different than that of mammals. Moss has two stages in its life cycle. The sporophyte generation and the gametophyte generation. The longest lived, dominate stage is the gametophyte generation. The green, photosynthesizing, gametophyte produces antheridia and archegonia. Antheridia are the male portions of the moss plant. The archegonia are the female parts of the moss plant. During a rain event, water transports the flagellated sperm from the antheridia to the waiting archegonia. The sperm swim into the archegonia and fertilize the egg. The egg is now fertilized and forms a sporophyte. A capsule filled with spores grows in the archegonia. The capsule grows with the archegonia surrounding it. As the capsule grows, it is raised on a seta (stalk) that raises the capsule above the boundry layer and into the wind. The remains of the archegonia are now refered to as a calyptra and falls off of the sporophyte. The operculum is a small cap that covers the peristome on the end of the capsule. When the spores are "ripe" the operculum falls off, and the peristome (little teeth) open and close release the spores onto the wind. These spores land somewhere favorable and produce a new gametophyte moss.

Muscinae

The most beautiful rendition of Moss I have seen in awhile. The 72nd plate from Ernst Haeckel's Kunstformen der Natur (1904), depicting organisms classified as Muscinae.