What are mosses in biology. Difference between mosses and algae

There are representatives on earth flora, which are considered the largest. These are different types of mosses and lichens. Almost any of their varieties are used in the production of medicines. Some are even used in construction due to their low thermal conductivity. The special science of bryology, which deals with the study of bryophytes, is also distinguished.

In nature, there are about 20 thousand species of mosses

Sphagnum species

Sphagnum is one of the most famous mosses in Russia. It grows in swamps. The lower area is dry, yellow in color, while the upper area is green and wet. This is observed due to insufficient supply of oxygen and mineral compounds. A certain part of the plant dies off over time, turns into peat. It is used to produce fuel.

What plants belong to mosses of the sphagnum group:

• baltic;
• protruding;
• coastal;
• slotted.

Sphagnum has many uses

Any varieties of sphagnum moss are characterized by many useful qualities. It can be used to disinfect wounds, disinfect purulent surfaces. Bandages with gauze and sphagnum are applied to burns. It can be used to immobilize the limbs to prevent the dressing from rubbing against the skin. At the same time, the plant provides a moisturizing effect.

The plant is characterized by antifungal properties. The insoles made on its basis for shoes reduce perspiration. Sphagnum absorbs liquid well. It is known that it can absorb water 20 times its own mass. It could be used in the fight against bleeding instead of cotton wool due to the indicated property. In addition, it does not interfere with skin breathing, does not form crusts.

Sphagnum is used in the construction of wooden houses. It is used to seal joints between logs, ensuring a stable room temperature. He is also good at building baths.

Thanks to this technique, the soil will become more fertile. You can also put sphagnum at the bottom of a flower pot by soaking it with water: this way you can leave the plant for a long time without watering.

Hepatic varieties

This is a separate group of mossy plants, uniting several subspecies. They got their own name due to the characteristic shape resembling a liver. Plants are found in the subtropics and tropics, usually with long leaves and stems. In addition, they also form the oldest moss family. Its most famous representative is hair-leaved blepharostomy. It is characterized by a flat shape.

Hepatic mosses are usually found on dead wood, stones, stumps, along the banks of water bodies. They form loose and dense layers. Bryophytes constitute a separate category. They are divided into several groups according to the appearance of leaves, stems and the way they are fixed in the ground. Plants form dense layers ranging in height from a few millimeters to 3 cm. Sometimes they account for huge territories.

Pellia liver moss can be grown in an aquarium

One of the most beautiful representatives of the liver mosses family. It is quite rare and grows in the marshy areas of China and Thailand. You can grow it at home, but you need an aquarium. Moss is able to grow on stone, sand and wood. It does not have special villi that allow it to stay firmly on the surface, so it is better to fix the plants with a thread or fishing line.

When the colony grows, it will independently support itself and provide everything it needs. Pellia's stems are rather fragile, so you shouldn't place it in places where herbivorous fish live. In general, if properly cared for, pellias can make excellent aquarium decorations.

The liverworms reproduce sexually and asexually. In appearance, representatives of this group can differ significantly from each other, since this includes a large number of mosses and lichens.

This category includes 10,000 species of mosses. Kukushkin flax is its classic representative. It can be found in almost any forest. The plant resembles a miniature tree with a large number of pointed leaves. Under suitable habitat conditions, it can form large colonies and grow to impressive sizes. If you place the cuckoo flax in the garden, in the future you will have to get rid of it for a long time.

When the moss begins to bloom, a seed capsule forms at the top of the stem. As it ripens, it opens and the wind carries the seeds. Foresters consider this plant a pest due to the fact that it can grow intensively in conditions of good lighting and soil moisture.

Kukushkin flax belongs to a leafy moss

In appearance, representatives of this class resemble liverworms. The description of leafy moss is as follows: a lamellar rosette of dark green color, tightly adhering to the ground and reaching a diameter of up to 3 cm. It has horn-like outgrowths up to 3 cm high, presented in large numbers.

In addition to cuckoo flax, the class includes several more classic representatives. The list includes:

1. Hypnum is cypress. Inhabits the forest and covers large areas. Sometimes it settles on the roofs and walls of houses. Its stems are elongated.
2. Wall cake. It grows on limestone, walls of buildings and forms miniature pads, from which long stems are drawn.

Another variety of leafy mosses - Juniper-like Polytrichum

1. Juniper-like polytrichum. Its spore boxes resemble flowers.
2. Cirrifillum is hairy. Forms light green sod. Prefers limestone-rich soil. You can find it in shrub thickets, forests. Can also be planted in the garden.
3. The chylocomium is brilliant. Found in forests quite often. During intensive growth, it forms cascades, which are, as it were, divided into several floors.
4. Anthoceros is smooth. Lives in northern latitudes. Usually this species appears first after the spring thaw.

Subclass Andreeva

These plants prefer cold areas with temperatures around -5 ° C. They have straight, small and tough leaves. Due to the thin villi, mosses penetrate into the structure of the stone and take root in it. In total, there are approximately 100 representatives of this class. The most famous of them are millipede dicranum and rosette rhodobrium.

Rhodobrium rosette one of 100 species of mosses of subclass Andreeva

In Russia, only 10 species are found that reproduce by decorative means. Outwardly, they clearly differ from green mosses and sphagnum. The mechanism of their formation is as follows.:

1. Colorless spores appear, which then germinate.
2. Cell division occurs under the membrane. Tuberous bodies are formed, consisting of many cells.
3. A green, ribbon-like protonema is formed.

The leaves of such plants are single-layered, consisting of colorless hairs with increased absorbency. They absorb moisture from the air. There are no conducting bundles on the stem.

Oak and ordinary

Oakmoss is distinguished as a separate species. It has a soft bushy thallus. It prefers northern and temperate latitudes, grows in mountain forests, and takes root on the trunks of pine, oak, spruce and fir. Thallus can change hue depending on weather conditions. In dry times, it usually has a bright yellow or dark red tone. As soon as the summer heat sets in, the color of the plant changes to pale blue or white.

Oak moss changes color depending on the season and weather conditions.

It is noteworthy that this moss has strong allergenic properties... Despite this, it is used in small quantities in the production of perfumes. This is due to its original tart pine needles smell. In folk medicine, oak moss is also highly valued. A tincture is prepared from it, which is effective against many diseases.

Common moss is found in Asia and Europe, North America and Africa. It prefers stagnant waters, but is also found in water bodies with the current. It has slender, branched stems 40-50 cm long. The leaves are pointed, deep green, up to 1 cm long.

Habitat

Mosses feel best on rocks and stones. Here they do not have to compete with flowering plants - the latter are simply not able to survive in such conditions. If there is a reservoir nearby, then the high humidity also contributes to their harmonious growth.

Swamps are common mosses

Moss tissue contains a special type of cells that can retain water for a long time. With a prolonged absence of atmospheric precipitation, the plants go into a state of dormancy. They reduce their own metabolism and change color. At the same time, they only need to get a few drops of moisture to return to their usual life.

Wall tortula prefers sunny and dry places

Moss is most commonly seen in humid shady places... But there are species that have adapted to dry and sunny areas. An example is a wall cake. She has transparent hairs on the leaves that protect the plants from heat. These plants have other survival techniques. For example, sphagnum can form an acidic environment, which scares away bacteria, fungi, and competing plants that can displace it. Anthoceroses prefer to live in symbiosis with blue algae. The latter produce nitrogen and give it to their "neighbor".

Although moss is quite inconspicuous, it plays a very significant role in the ecosystem. These plants are able to retain a lot of moisture, which has a beneficial effect on the water balance of the swampy area. In open areas, this feature helps to reduce soil erosion. In addition, without sphagnum, it is impossible to form peat produced in swamps. Plants form a dense green carpet that serves as a favorable habitat for small animals and many insects.

Moss is the oldest plant, more than 400 million years old. For the study of this section of higher plants, a whole science has been allocated, called bryology.

Many people have no idea what types of bryophytes are, and often do not distinguish between mosses and lichens. Meanwhile, this amazing representative of flora plays an important role in the ecosystem and soil moisture, is used in medicine and is a source of peat deposits, from which people later get fuel. It is impossible to deny the great importance of the diversity of mosses in the life of people and nature. Moss, pictures of which will be provided below, amazes with a variety of appearance.

Structure and distribution

Mossy plants lack flowers and root systems. Some species have rhizoids - processes that resemble roots. The leaves have a supply of chlorophyll and support vital functions. There is also a sporophyte, consisting of a leg and a capsule, in which spores that serve for reproduction ripen. The maximum stem height is 5 cm, with the exception of some aquatic mosses and epiphytes. It should be noted that reindeer moss, called reindeer moss and reaching 20 cm in height, does not belong to the mossy department.

Moss is an example of plants that use two methods of propagation for better survival: sexual and asexual. During the spore breeding season, the shoots may appear in bloom due to the appearance of flowered green heads. Spores remain viable for tens of years, with the help of emerging threads they attach to the selected surface.

Mosses can be found in almost all corners of the planet. Most species prefer moist soil in swampy areas, shaded areas and tree trunks for growth. In the event of the onset of the dry period, bryophytes temporarily stop growing and fall into a state of suspended animation. Less often, rocks and stones can be observed as a habitat for spore plants. ... These flora representatives cannot be found in the seas or in areas with saline soil, as they do not tolerate salt.

Species diversity

The first representatives of the bryophyte department originated in the Carboniferous period long before the appearance of flowering plants and externally did not undergo any changes, retaining their original appearance to our times. At present, the number of mosses is about 20 thousand, including the department of liverworts and anthocerophytes.

The following classes exist:

1. Hepatic;
2. Anthocerotaceous;
3. Leafy (brievye).

Subclasses can be distinguished from the list:

1. Sphagnum (peaty or white);
2. Takaki;
3. Hypnova;
4. Andreevs.

Hepatic and Anthoceretic

The class hepatic with a dominant life stage gametophyte includes more than 6,000 species of mosses. Liverwort are common in tropical areas and in moderately humid climates. They are characterized by a vegetative way of reproduction. Jungermannian liverworts have stems and leaves, thallus - a flat thallus (thallus), located on the ground or floating on the water surface.

Of the most famous representatives of the class, one can distinguish polymorphic marching, pellia, ciliated ptylidium, buoyant riccia. The latter is often bred in aquariums.

Anthocerotes are characterized by the presence of a lamellar thallus or thallus. Like liverwort, anthocerophytes are found mainly in the tropics. In conditions of excessive drought, tuberous thickenings appear on the thalli, due to which plants can survive adverse conditions. They often live in symbiosis with blue algae.

Typical representatives: field anthoceros, smooth and forked anthoceros.

Brievye or bryopsida

Leafy - one of the largest classes of mosses. Distributed throughout the world. There are both annual and perennial samples. In height, there are both low, 5-10 mm, and higher, reaching 15 cm. The multifoliate difistium, for example, can be attributed to especially small mosses.

Known representatives of bryopsids are considered to be cuckoo flax and firefighting fontinalis, which can often be found in the forests of Russia in northern and middle latitudes. Due to the abundance of flat leaves, cuckoo flax resembles a small part of a coniferous branch growing upward, while fontinalis is more like a tiny fern.

In the southern lands, there are small-estuarine funaria and wavy mnium - low plants with pointed leaves of green shades. Rhodobrium rosette, on the contrary, prefers to stay in the shade of coniferous forests.

Another sample of brieva - gilokomium brillianthaving leaves in the form of scales. Consists of several tiers due to its special branching and dense foliage.

Sphagnum mosses

An example of the most famous subclass of bryophytes is sphagnum. There are more than 300 species, which are characterized by red, greenish-white or yellow color and relatively large sizes. Sphagnum grows in the tundra and forest lowlands with moist soil, forming a dense carpet due to the dense growth of leaves. If young shoots have rhizoids, then adult representatives of the species are completely devoid of root-like formations.

Popular representatives: marsh sphagnum, brown, hairy, Magellan.

Peat, the source of which is sphagnum, is actively used in agriculture and industry to obtain peat gas. The carbolic acid secreted by moss has found application in medicine due to its bactericidal properties.

Takakiev, Hypnova and Andreev

Bryophytes belonging to the Takakia class are rather controversial plants. At first, bryologists attributed this class to liverworts due to the characteristic structure of gametophytes, however, after a detailed study of sporophytes, the plant was reclassified as leafy. Visually, takakia differs from other bryophytes. There are two types of takaki: takakia horn-leaved and lepidosium. The habitats are Far Eastas well as northwest North America.

Representatives of the Hypnova species form a vegetative carpet on moist soils and rocks. Shoots are abundantly covered with leaves on all sides, hypnum mosses are found mainly in the north. The well-known representative of the cypress hypnum species is also common in the forest belt; it can be found both in a dense grove and on rocky hills.

Mossy, belonging to the Andreev class, prefer cold terrain. Due to their structural features and the ability to root in stone pores, they can grow on rocks and in rocky soils. There are about 100 species of Andrew mosses. Examples: Andrew Cold and Andrew Skalnaya.

Aquarium moss

There are varieties of decorative mosses suitable for decorating aquariums. Bryophytes are loved by aquarists due to their high survival rate, unpretentiousness and slow growth. The large number of variations in appearance is another advantage in favor of bryophytes.

Key moss, Fontinalis, Javanese moss, Floating Riccia, Riccardia are examples of plants suitable for aquarium decoration.

Mosses do not always play a prominent, but extremely important role in people's lives. In addition to applications in construction, medicine, industry and aquariums, bryophytes can become an object for collecting and numerous photographs... These creations of nature are truly amazing and beautiful.

Moss species

They are inferior only to angiosperms, or flowering plants, which indicates the important ecological role that these plants play in nature.

Bryophytes do not have roots, they have poorly developed integumentary and conductive tissues, and they need droplet moisture for reproduction. Therefore, they live mainly in places with high humidity - in swamps, under a forest canopy, on the shaded side of tree trunks, etc.

During the rain and melting of the snow, the moss like a sponge, absorb moisture, and then slowly give it to the rivers. Therefore, drainage of raised bogs and deforestation in which mosses live, in the spring, during the melting of snow, leads to floods. At the same time, violent streams of water wash away the top fertile soil layer (this phenomenon is called water erosion of soil). At the same time, in the summer, the rivers fed by the water of the raised bogs become shallow, and drought sets in.

Due to their unique ability to absorb moisture over the entire surface of the body, some species of bryophytes have adapted to life in conditions where the functions of the root are ineffective - in very cold or very dry and stony soil. Mossy ones dominate not only in bogs, but also in the subpolar zone, preventing catastrophic thawing of permafrost, as well as on rocky mountain slopes. Mossy are the dominant plants in tropical mountain forests located at an altitude of more than 3000 m above sea level (so-called moss forests).

Some bryophytes have adapted to life on dry mountain slopes open to the sun, on hot rocks and even in the desert. Such mosses can remain viable for years when dried, quickly activating when moistened (unlike most bryophytes, which die when dried within 24 hours).

Classification and variety of bryophytes

All are divided into 3 classes:

• Anthocerotaceous(Anthocerotopsida);
• Liverworts (Hepaticopsida);
• Leafy, or real mosses (Bryopsida, or Musci).

Leafy, or true mosses, can, in turn, be divided into 3 subclasses:

• Brievye (or green) mosses (Bryidae);

• Sphagnum (or white) mosses (Sphagnidae);
• Andreev (or black) mosses (Andreaeidae).

Class anthocerota

Class anthocerota(Anthocerotopsida) has over 300 species, distributed mainly in the tropics and subtropics. Haploid ( n) the gametophyte of Anthocerotians is a thallus, which outwardly resembles a rosette or saucer of dark green color, in the center of which a bright green "candle" of diploid ( 2n) sporophyte (Fig. 1).

At the end of the maturation of the spores, the "candle" cracks and the spores spill out onto the ground. It is interesting that sporophyte cells ("candles") contain ordinary small oval chloroplasts, similar to chloroplasts of vascular plants, and gametophyte cells ("rosettes") contain large chloroplasts, inside which are pyrenoids, which further enhances the similarity of "rosettes" - gametophytes with algae.

Figure: 1. Anthocerotes: a) anthoceros (Anthoceros laevis) - a general species with mature sporangia; b) sporangium with spores; c) archegonium; d) antheridium (inside the developing sperm); 1 - abdomen of archegonia (in the center of the ovum); 2 - the neck (inside the cervical tubular cells)

The stomata in the epidermis of the anthocerot sporophyte consist of two guard cells and are outwardly similar to the stomata of vascular plants. The anthocerian sporophyte, in contrast to the sporophytes of other bryophytes, retains the capacity for growth and photosynthesis for a long time; it has been shown that it can grow and feed on its own in general, without the help of a gametophyte. These features of Anthocerotes allow some scientists to see in them reduced vascular plants or even the lowest link in their evolution (i.e., to consider Anthocerotes as possible ancestors of the first vascular plants - rhinophytes).

Anthocerotes are very different from other bryophytes and, in general, from other terrestrial plants. Liverworts and leafy mosses differ much less from each other. Perhaps the origin of Anthocerotes and other bryophytes is different and they should generally be considered different parts of the kingdom of genius.

In the internal, mucus-filled cavities of the gametophyte anthocerotes, cyanobacteria of the genus Nostock ( Nostoc), which fix atmospheric nitrogen and supply nitrogen compounds to the host plant. However, slow-growing Atocerotians are weak competitors; therefore, most of the species of this class are inhabitants of disturbed habitats (non-turfed edges of arable lands, ditches, roads, river banks).

Liverworts class

Liverworts class (Hepaticopsida), or liver mosses, unites about 10,000 species.

Liverworts were named so due to the fact that their thallus resembles the liver in its outlines, therefore, in the Middle Ages, these mosses were considered an effective remedy for the treatment of its diseases.

Many liverworts are thallus (thallus) organisms. A typical representative of the thallus liverworts is diverse.

However, most liverworts are not thallus, but leafy. The leaves of liverworts, in contrast to the leaves of leafy mosses, are arranged not only in spirals, but in 3-4 rows.

Rhizoids are unicellular. The protonema in most liverworts is poorly developed and short-lived.

Liverworts live on wet soil, on rocks, along river banks.

Vegetative reproduction is very well developed in liverworts.

Class leafy, or real mosses

Class leafy, or true mosses (Bryopsida, or Musci) - this is the largest class of bryophytes, numbering about 25,000 species.

The leafy class includes three subclasses:

• brie;
• sphagnum;
• andrew's mosses.

Shaved mosses

Subclass Brievye (Bryidae), or green mosses, includes 14,000 species. In damp places, representatives of this group are ubiquitous: they settle on the soil, bark, and tree trunks. Green mosses live in spruce and pine forests, swamps, on mountain slopes, and in the tundra they often form a continuous cover.

A typical representative of green mosses -, or polytrichum (Polytrichum commune) - The brie mosses of the polytrichous and dawsonian families are the only representatives of the bryophytes, the gametophytes of which have relatively well-developed vascular tissues resembling the xylem and phloem of primitive vascular plants. The leaves on the gametophytes of all briids are arranged in spirals. The upper side of the leaf is covered with columns of photosynthetic cells with assimilation plates. The covering tissue (epidermis), which protects the plant from drying out, is located only on the underside of the leaf. The stem and leaves of polytrichous also contain mechanical tissues, which are elongated cells resembling the sclereids of vascular plants. Mosses from the polytrichous family are perennial, relatively large plants (for example, the height of cuckoo flax stems sometimes reaches 40-50 cm), often forming extensive soil coverings in forests, swamps and tundra.

Rhizoids of green mosses, in contrast to rhizoids of liverworts, are multicellular, but they absorb water relatively poorly. Therefore, green mosses, like other classes of mosses, absorb water over the entire surface of the body, primarily leaves. So, cuckoo flax can absorb water 4-5 times more dry weight of its own body. In this regard, mosses often swamp the soil on which they grow.

Characteristic feature the life cycle of green mosses is that their development begins with the formation of a special filamentous structure - protonemesthat looks like filamentous green algae. Interestingly, in some leafy mosses, gametophyte does not develop at all. Protonema becomes the main life form of such mosses. The most famous of them is the glowing moss. schistostega pinnate (Shistostega renata), inhabiting caves throughout southern Europe. It is with him that the appearance of legends about the treasures of the gnomes that disappear at dawn is associated.

Schistostega glows due to the concentration and subsequent reflection of light, as the eyes of cats "glow". Special lenticular moss cells first concentrate light on the chloroplasts, and then the concentrated light, reflected from the back wall of the cell, passes through the chloroplasts a second time. This feature of the structure allows the schistostega to dwell in the weak, diffused light of the caves.

Green mosses, as well as liverworts, have a well-developed vegetative reproduction.

Sphagnum mosses

Subclass sphagnum (Sphegnidae), or white mosses, represented by a single genus sphagnum (Sphagnum), which includes over 300 species. A characteristic feature of sphagnum is a branching stem: not separate leaves, but whorls of branches (sometimes 5 in a node) depart from the main stem of sphagnum, and a head of close branches forms at the top of the shoot.

The initial phase of sphagnum development is the formation of a lamellar protonema from the spore.

Sphagnum leaves contain special dead cells that serve as containers for water. Large dead aquifer cells are surrounded by small photosynthetic cells (Fig. 2). When the sphagnum dries up, the water from the aquiferous cells evaporates and the sphagnum becomes whitish - hence the second name for sphagnum mosses - "white mosses". Due to the presence of aquiferous cells, certain types of sphagnum absorb moisture 20-40 times more than their dry mass. Due to this unique ability, sphagnum swamps the soil on which it grows.

Sphagnum has no rhizoids. As the plant grows, the lower parts of the stem die off and sink to the bottom. In the process of growth, sphagnum not only swamps the soil, but also acidifies the water to a pH below 4. In an acidic environment without access to oxygen, dead stems of sphagnum and other plants do not rot, but turn into peat.

Peat bogs are an interesting object for archaeologists and paleobotanists. In the acidic environment of peat bogs, spores of ancient plants, tree trunks, ancient tools, boats, and building structures are perfectly preserved. So, recently on the territory of Great Britain a wooden road was discovered in peat deposits, connecting two settlements of people of the Stone Age. This structure is 6,000 years old.

Figure: 2. Sphagnum moss: a) general view; 6) box; c) leaf cells under a microscope

Peat is an excellent and renewable fuel. Peat is mainly used in thermal power plants to generate electricity. In agriculture, peat is used as a fertilizer, as well as to retain moisture in the soil. In the greenhouse, peat-humus pots are used for growing seedlings.

In medicine, sphagnum is used as an excellent dressing material and filler for various moisture-absorbing pads. Sphagnum is 5-6 times more efficient in absorbing moisture compared to conventional dressings, such as Vaga. In addition, unlike cotton wool, sphagnum has pronounced bactericidal properties.

An interesting feature of sphagnum is the spore dispersal mechanism.

The sphagnum sporophyte is a round box that rises on a support (pseudopod) of gametophyte tissues. In wet weather, air enters the capsule through the stomata. When the capsule dries up, the stomata on all surfaces close, the air pressure inside rises, as a result, with a distinct cotton, the lid breaks off and a cloud of spores rises above the capsule.

Peat bogs occupy about 1% of the area Globe and play an important role in regulating the Earth's water balance. The water supply from the raised bogs feeds the rivers.

Andrew's mosses

Subclass Andreev (Andreaeidae), or black mosses, unites about 120 species of black-green or red-brown rock mosses characteristic of mountainous and arctic regions. Protonema is lamellar, thick-walled, multi-bladed.

The mechanism of dispersion of disputes is interesting. A capsule on a pseudopod made of gametophyte tissues cracks into 4 plates. In dry weather, due to the reduction of the central axis, it shrinks like a Christmas tree toy, and spores pour out of the box through the opened cracks. In wet weather, the axis of the capsule lengthens and the cracks are closed.

To understand what mosses are, you need to study the most ancient this - of the highest type, isolated and numerous. Nowadays, there are almost 30 thousand species of mosses on the entire planet.

Classification

Botanists have discovered and studied all known species, the classification of which is based on differences in morphological structure, methods of distribution and structure of spore bolls. can be conditionally subdivided into the following classes: deciduous, liver and anthocerotic mosses.

Deciduous mosses

What are deciduous mosses? They are otherwise called bryopsids. This is a large class of about 15 thousand species. Representatives of this group are recognized as the most highly developed of all plants in this department. Bryopsids are very diverse, both in shape and size. Sometimes they reach significant sizes. The most viable stage of their existence is the gametophyte. The plant looks like a stem with single-layer leaves arranged in a spiral. Bryopsids reproduce by spores. They are widespread in the tundra, marshy and humid areas. Representatives: kukushkin flax,

Liver mosses

What are liver mosses (liverworts)? They number about 8.5 thousand species and are subdivided into two subclasses: Marshallian and Jungermannian liverworts. The predominant viable stage is gametophyte. Outwardly, the plant resembles a flattened "stem" with leaves running along. Propagated by spores using an elater (special spring). Liverworts are common in tropical and moderately humid climates. Typical representatives: hair-leaved blepharostroma, polymorphic marshallia, lymphoid barbilophosia, ciliated ptylidium.

Anthocerot mosses

What are anthocerote mosses? This class of mosses is often regarded by specialists as a subclass of liver mosses. It includes nearly 300 species.

The sporophyte stage predominates. Outwardly, the plant looks like a rosette-like or lobed thallus. These mosses are found in temperate humid and tropical climates. The representative of the class is anthoceros.

Generalized characteristics of mosses

So what are mosses? These are low-growing plants, the height of which can vary from 1 mm to 60 centimeters. They grow on tree trunks, on the walls of houses, on the ground, in fresh waters and swamps. Due to salt intolerance, plants are not found in the seas and on saline soils. Most often, the structure of mosses is very simple - stems and leaves. But the roots of the plants in question are completely absent. They absorb water and nutrients by rhizoids or the whole body. Adaptation to terrestrial existence has led to the fact that mosses have appeared integumentary and mechanical tissues, as well as new cells that perform a conducting function. It is a perennial plant, most often of small size (only a few mm high), less often large (up to 60 cm). Its body looks like a thallus (anthocerotic or separate liverworts) or is divided into a “stem” and “leaves”. Attachment to the substrate and absorption of water is carried out by outgrowths of cells, the so-called rhizoids (they, as a rule, do not have a conducting system).

Also not distinguished by intricacy. These are large light green or slightly reddish curtains. They have erect "stems" with foliate-leafy "branches" located. Without rhizoids, the stem of the moss is erect (gradually dying off from below), leafy in several rows, with numerous leafy lateral processes, which are collected at the top of the stem in a dense head. Throughout the rest of the stem, the branches are collected in bunches. The latter consist of 3-13 branches hanging and spaced from the stem. At the top, the “branches” are shortened and assembled into a dense head. Colorless pore-bearing aquifer cells make up the outer layer of the “stem”.

Single-layer "leaves" of sphagnum include two types of cells: photosynthetic and aquifer. The former are worm-shaped and contain chloroplasts located between the aquifer cells. There are many such cells, which allows sphagnum to absorb a large volume of water. The sphagnum sporophyte is a round box, in which spores appear, with a lid. When the spores mature, the pressure inside the capsule increases, as a result of which the lid opens and the ripened spores are thrown out. This process takes place in warm weather to better spread the spores.

What are green mosses? Their bright representatives include cuckoo flax. Its “stem” is covered with tough, dark green subulate “leaves”. It has rhizoids and grows up to 30-40 cm. The leaves of the moss are bent and erect, with an elongated membranous sheath and a vein protruding from the top. The “stem” has a primitive conducting system and dioecious gametophytes. The top of the "stems" ends with antheridia and archegonia. After fertilization, a sporophyte develops from the zygote, which is a box with a long stem for the maturation of haploid spores in it. The box is covered with a falling cap with thin, drooping hairs similar to linen yarn. The moss box is subdivided into a lid, a neck and a urn. Inside the box is a column filled with sterile cells. A sporangium is located around the column. The urn and lid are bordered by a ring of cells with thickened walls. This ring is responsible for dropping the box and separating it from the lid.

Moss breeding methods

The sexual generation prevails over the asexual. Moss reproduction organs are formed directly on its body. These are the archegonia and antheridia mentioned above. Archegonia are responsible for the formation and development of one immobile female gamete, and antheridia are responsible for many male gametes. In a fertilized female gamete (the condition is the presence of water), an asexual generation of moss - sporophyte - begins to develop. This is a kind of box with a leg attached to the body of the moss. It contains many spores that can germinate under favorable conditions to form a new plant. Some species are able to reproduce vegetatively. At the same time, the thallus is separated from the adult organism, which is attached in close proximity to the plant, and begins an independent existence and reproduction.

Mosses spread

It is more difficult to determine where there is no moss than to tell where the moss grows. This representative of the flora is distributed almost everywhere - from the tropics to the polar regions. In tropical regions, moss grows mainly in mountainous areas and in forests, that is, where high air humidity prevails. Sometimes the soil covered with mosses is also found in arid areas, since this plant has the ability to temporarily stop its activity in the dry period, and renew it with the appearance of moisture. Basically, mosses predominate in the temperate and subarctic belts of the northern hemisphere.

Moss and its meaning

The importance of mosses in nature is enormous. Firstly, thanks to these representatives of the plant world, the landscape water balance is regulated, because they are able to accumulate large reserves of moisture in the thallus. Secondly, the moss plant creates a special biocenosis, especially in areas where it completely covers the soil. In addition, this group has the ability to accumulate and retain radiation. The importance of mosses for animals is also great, because bryophytes are the main type of food for some individuals. And this plant also plays an important role in human life. So, many types are effectively used in pharmacology. And the peat formed after the dying off of the mosses is used as fuel.

When flowering plants did not yet exist in nature, he was already pleasing the eye ... of dinosaurs.




The forest covered reminds us of primitive times. Its layer of just a few centimeters creates the impression of a dense green carpet that covers everything around.

Moss superstar: classes and types

The first mosses appeared on our planet more than 400 million years ago, long before flowering plants. As well, these plants reproduce by spores. There are about 18,000 species of mossesgrouped into three classes.

Liver mosses

The oldest of them - liver mosses... The most famous representative of this group is hairy blepharostomy (Blepharostoma trichophyllum) with its characteristic flat, spreading shape. Most liverwort mosses have both stems and true leaves.

Hair-leaved blepharostoma most often grows on soil, as well as on dead wood, stumps and stones along the banks of streams and rivers, forming dense or loose, mixed with other bryophytes, tussocks and even whole carpets.

A large class is also bryophytes... They are all divided into orders according to the structure of their stems, leaves and the way they are fixed in the soil. Mosses form “cushions” ranging in height from millimeters to several centimeters, and sometimes cover vast territories with a dense lawn of living plants and their dead parts with a layer up to 1-3 m or more thick.

Anthocerot mosses

The second no less extensive class is anthocerot mosses, outwardly resembling "liverworts". They got their name from the Greek words anthos - flower and keros - horn, since the form of plants is a dark green lamellar rosette (thallus) with a diameter of 1-3 cm, tightly attached to the soil, and numerous horn-like outgrowths (sporogons) up to 2 -3 cm.

It belongs to one of the most common species. In the forest, he can cover very large areas, but he also finds a place in habitable places, on the walls and roofs of houses. The picture shows long stems with spore pods.

Leaf moss cuckoo flaxoutwardly resembles a sprig of conifers. Its length can reach 15 cm; it is the cuckoo flax that often lines the soil in the forest.

Wall tortula forms small pads and grows on limestone stones, including on the walls of houses made of such material.

In some mosses, the spore boxes sometimes look like flowers, such as this polytrichum juniper-like.

Cirrifillum hairy (Cirriphyllum piliferum)forms loose light green tufts. He prefers nutrient-rich calcareous soil. Cirrifillum can be found in forests and bushes. However, there is a place for him in the garden too.

Chylocomium brilliant ( Hylocomium splendens)most commonly found in forests, although grasslands, roadsides and quarries often provide shelter. In the process of growth, it forms cascades, as it were, consisting of separate floors.

Sphagnum hairy (Sphagnum capillifolium)grows primarily in swamps and wet forests. Plant height does not exceed 20 cm. This moss can be whitish-green, brown, reddish or yellow in color.

Anthoceros smooth (Anthoceros laevis)- one of the few species of the genus of anthocerotic mosses living in northern latitudes. This moss is often the first to appear on wet soil after weeding in beds, flower beds and especially in furrows.

Where do mosses live

On the rocks and mosses feel out of competition: there is no place for flowering plants here. High humidity and regular water rises in streams also contribute to the spread of "green and fluffy".

The persistence with which the moss spreads through the garden is directly related to its ability not only to spore propagation, but also to vegetative reproduction, especially in leafy species. So that every patch of moss that falls out from under the lawnmower knife can grow a full-fledged new plant... Thanks to this property, you can almost easily populate a part of your plot with "fluffy" inhabitants:

1. The moss is cut by 5-10 mm and these tiny pieces are scattered over the surface of the previously moistened soil.
2. At the end of the process, the area should be covered with moss scraps by at least 10%.
3. After that, everything is well pressed down and the first weeks are intensely moisturized. The soil before "sowing" can be replaced with sand or lava pebbles.

will help you make an interesting "mossy" composition.

The most creative ideas for using moss in garden decor you will find in the number 1 of the magazine "Country. Style and way of life "for February-March 2016.