Mosses

 

General Characteristics 

• Mosses are non-vascular, meaning they lack the vascular tissues (xylem and phloem) needed to transport water and nutrients thus why the moss structure is very small.
• Their cell walls are made up of cellulose
• They are autotrophic, as are majority of the plants within the plant kingdom are. This means that they can provide their own nutrients, usually through a process called photosynthesis where the plant collects light from the sun and turns it into useable energy.
• Water is a necessity for moss in order for them to reproduce, as their sperm cells are flagellated meaning that they must move to get to the egg cell to fertilize it. 
• Moss lack stems, leaves and roots, thus why they highly depend on their gametophyte to carry out photosynthesis as well as water. 
• In mosses, the gametophyte stage (haploid) is the dominant generation.

Samples & Species

Delicate Fern Moss

Owl Park, May 12 1:49 PM

This moss species had grown on top of a rock near the base of a tree, and had no sporophytes visible, only the gametophyte was visible. Delicate Fern Moss resembles the appearance of tiny ferns, and can often be found growing on the surfaces of rocks, logs, branches or damp soil. The colour of this moss varies from a light shade of green to a very dark shade depending on whether it grows in the sunlight or shade, in this case the moss was a vibrant shade of green. This moss is used by small animals as a protective cover and as  nesting material for birds. 

Tortula Moss (aka Wall Screw Moss)

Sullivan Heights Secondary, May 19 2:53 PM

This Tortula Moss was spotted growing on a cement wall located outside of the school. Sporophytes that appeared to be almost red in colour can also be seen growing out of the gametophyte in long stalk-like structures with a capsule located at the very top of the stalk. It is common to find this type of moss growing on the surfaces of concrete, cement, or brick walls though they may also be found growing on rocks or trees. This moss species is quite common around the globe, and similar to most mosses they can absorb from its surroundings and be used as an air quality indicator. This specific moss appeared to be very grey and dry, most likely due to the lack of water in its surroundings as this picture was taken when the temperature had nearly reached 30 degrees (C).

Red-stemmed Feather Moss

Bear-Creek Park, May 21 11:49 AM 

This moss was found growing on a rock surrounded by various other plants and soil, and didn't appear to have any sporophytes growing out of the gametophytes. The Red-stemmed Feather Moss grows out of a main stem and has a feather-like appearance, they can also grow to be up to 13-16 cm in length. They grow in woodland areas upon the forest floors forming a sort of mat among other mosses. Their stems are red in colour, hence their name "Red-stemmed Feather Moss".

Adaptations:

Similar to many other plants, many years ago moss used to live in the water but had eventually adapted to live on land over a period of time. Life on land is obviously much dryer compared to life in water, so to prevent themselves from drying out their sporophytes have a capsule enclosing their spores which they need to reproduce. The capsule will protect these spores until the conditions seem favourable for them to be released. Another beneficial adaptation for mosses on land are their gametophytes, which contain chlorophyll allowing them to collect sunlight to use to produce their own nutrients.