Andreaea blyttii | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Division: | Bryophyta |
Class: | Andreaeopsida |
Order: | Andreaeales |
Family: | Andreaeaceae |
Genus: | Andreaea |
Species: | A. blyttii |
Binomial name | |
Andreaea blyttii Schimp. | |
Andreaea blyttii, also commonly known as Blytt's rock moss, is a moss belonging to the family Andreaeaceae, commonly known as rock moss, granite moss, or lantern moss because of this family's unique sporangium. [1] It is part of the genus Andreaea which is known for forming dark brownish or reddish-black carpets in high elevations. [2] This species was first described by Schimper in 1855. [3] [4]
The shoots of A. blyttii vary in length. They are distinctively known for being small and dark red or black. They form tuffs and have acrocarpus growth. Depending on the frequency of desiccation, the branching pattern can vary from unbranched to irregularly branched. [4] [1] The number of leaves per shoot increases in dry environments. [4] The stem walls are made up of pigmented cells and the stem lacks a conducting strand which is a character of the genus Andreaea . [2] [1] [5] Rhizoids are attached at the base of the shoot. The spores are uniquely small in this species and grow into a thalloid protonema. [6] The leaves of this species are known to vary in morphology. [4] Leaf length and curvature, costa width and cell length are reduced in response to desiccation. [4] Leaf curvature can be erect, falcate-secund, or curved. [7] Larger more curved leaves with a smaller subula have been noted as a deviant morphology. [4] Most leaves are erect and have a short and wide basal lamina with rectangular unistratose cells and a long subula also known as a limb with a costa spanning the entire length of the leaf. [4] [5] [8] The costa is multistratose. [7] This moss is closely related to Andreaea nivalis but A. blyttii lacks the denticulate leaf margins and very papillose upper cells of A. nivalis. [9]
Andreaea blyttii is usually found on rocks such as gneiss and granite. [4] It also found in late to extremely late snow beds at low to high latitudes and elevations. [10] It forms dense mats in mountain alpines where few other mosses can survive and is able to colonize sites of deglaciation. [11] In Norway, it has commonly been observed growing in association with Hymenoloma crispulum and Schistidium pulchrum. [10] [11] A. blyttii grows better on non-calcareous rocks. [4]
Andreaea blyttii is distributed across higher elevations in Greenland, Iceland, Northern Europe, Northern Asia and across North America in California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Alaska, Yukon, North West territories, Nunavut, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Quebec. [6]
Andreaea blyttii can reproduce asexually and sexually. Asexual reproduction is through vegetative fragments. [4] After touching A. blyttii, your hands can collect some of the fragments. [11] The frequency of vegetative reproduction is recorded to be higher in moist environments but A. blyttii survive better in dry environments. [4] Fragments need to be able to anchor to their substrate which is usually rock before getting washed away. [4] Sexual reproduction occurs through sporic meiosis like in all bryophytes. [12] A. blyttii is autoicous meaning its female and male reproductive structures are on separate branches but on the same shoot. [5] The archegonium is borne at the tip of the shoot and is wrapped in perichaetial leaves which are differentiated from the rest of the leaves on the shoot. [13] The sporophyte emerges from the archegonium. All members of Andreaeopsida lack a seta and instead have a gametophyte pseudopodium that attaches to the sporangium. [2] The capsules of the sporangium lack peristome teeth and have 4 lines of moisture sensitive openings called lines of dehiscence. [2] To release spores the capsule opens via the lines of dehiscence when dry giving the sporophyte a paper lantern appearance. [2] These capsule openings allows for the spores to be released gradually. [4] The spores of this species are characteristically small ranging from 13-15 μm. [7]
A sporangium ; pl.: sporangia) is an enclosure in which spores are formed. It can be composed of a single cell or can be multicellular. Virtually all plants, fungi, and many other groups form sporangia at some point in their life cycle. Sporangia can produce spores by mitosis, but in land plants and many fungi, sporangia produce genetically distinct haploid spores by meiosis.
Alternation of generations is the predominant type of life cycle in plants and algae. In plants both phases are multicellular: the haploid sexual phase – the gametophyte – alternates with a diploid asexual phase – the sporophyte.
Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophytasensu stricto. Bryophyta may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hornworts. Mosses typically form dense green clumps or mats, often in damp or shady locations. The individual plants are usually composed of simple leaves that are generally only one cell thick, attached to a stem that may be branched or unbranched and has only a limited role in conducting water and nutrients. Although some species have conducting tissues, these are generally poorly developed and structurally different from similar tissue found in vascular plants. Mosses do not have seeds and after fertilisation develop sporophytes with unbranched stalks topped with single capsules containing spores. They are typically 0.2–10 cm (0.1–3.9 in) tall, though some species are much larger. Dawsonia, the tallest moss in the world, can grow to 50 cm (20 in) in height. There are approximately 12,000 species.
Bryophytes are a group of land plants, sometimes treated as a taxonomic division, that contains three groups of non-vascular land plants (embryophytes): the liverworts, hornworts, and mosses. In the strict sense, the division Bryophyta consists of the mosses only. Bryophytes are characteristically limited in size and prefer moist habitats although some species can survive in drier environments. The bryophytes consist of about 20,000 plant species. Bryophytes produce enclosed reproductive structures, but they do not produce flowers or seeds. They reproduce sexually by spores and asexually by fragmentation or the production of gemmae. Though bryophytes were considered a paraphyletic group in recent years, almost all of the most recent phylogenetic evidence supports the monophyly of this group, as originally classified by Wilhelm Schimper in 1879. The term bryophyte comes from Ancient Greek βρύον (brúon) 'tree moss, liverwort', and φυτόν (phutón) 'plant'.
The Marchantiophyta are a division of non-vascular land plants commonly referred to as hepatics or liverworts. Like mosses and hornworts, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which cells of the plant carry only a single set of genetic information.
Fissidens adianthoides, the maidenhair pocketmoss, is a moss in the family Fissidentaceae. It was first collected by Hedwig in 1801.
The Funariidae are a widespread group of mosses in class Bryopsida. The majority of species belong to the genera Funaria and Physcomitrium.
Takakia ceratophylla is one of the two species of toothless mosses in the genus Takakia, under the Takakiaceae family. This species was first described by William Mitten in 1861. Takakia ceratophylla is vulnerable and threatened by habitat loss due to human activities.
Hypnodendron comosum, commonly known as palm moss or palm tree moss, is a ground moss which can be divided into two varieties: Hypnodendron comosum var. comosum and Hypnodendron comosum var. sieberi. Both Hypnodendron varieties most commonly grow in damp locations in the temperate and tropical rainforests of New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania in southern Australia and in New Zealand.
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Andreaea rupestris is a species of moss in the class Andreaeopsida, are commonly referred to as the "lantern mosses" due to the appearance of their dehisced sporangia. It is typically found on smooth, acidic, exposed rock in the Northern hemisphere. It exhibits the common features of the genus Andreaea such as being acrocarpous, having dark pigmentation, lacking a seta, and bearing 4 lines of dehiscence in its mature sporangia, but can be further identified upon careful examination of its gametophytic leaves which have an ovate base to a more blunt apex compared to other similar species.
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