Takakia is a genus of two species of mosses known from western North America and central and eastern Asia. The genus is placed as a separate family, order and class among the mosses. It has had a history of uncertain placement, but the discovery of sporophytes clearly of the moss-type firmly supports placement with the mosses.
Andreaeaceae is a family of mosses which includes two genera, Andreaea, containing about 100 species, and the genus Acroschisma. The Andreaeaceae prefer rocky habitats ranging from tropical to arctic climates, on which they form tufted colonies, typically with reddish to blackish shoots. The capsules lack the peristome mechanism and dehisce longitudinally to release the spores, resulting in a paper-lantern appearance.
The Bryopsida constitute the largest class of mosses, containing 95% of all moss species. It consists of approximately 11,500 species, common throughout the whole world.
Taxiphyllum barbieri, known as Java moss or Bogor moss, is a moss belonging to the family Hypnaceae. Native to southeast Asia, it is commonly used in freshwater aquariums. It attaches to rocks, roots, and driftwood. In the wild, it grows in humid riparian areas.
Buxbaumia is a genus of twelve species of moss (Bryophyta). It was first named in 1742 by Albrecht von Haller and later brought into modern botanical nomenclature in 1801 by Johann Hedwig to commemorate Johann Christian Buxbaum, a German physician and botanist who discovered the moss in 1712 at the mouth of the Volga River. The moss is microscopic for most of its existence, and plants are noticeable only after they begin to produce their reproductive structures. The asymmetrical spore capsule has a distinctive shape and structure, some features of which appear to be transitional from those in primitive mosses to most modern mosses.
Polytrichaceae is a common family of mosses. Members of this family tend to be larger than other mosses with a thickened central stem and a rhizome. The leaves have a midrib that bears photosynthetic lamellae on the upper surface. Species in this group are dioicous. Another characteristic that identifies them is that they have from 32 to 64 peristome teeth in their sporangium.
The Dicranidae are a widespread and diverse subclass of mosses in class Bryopsida, with many species of dry or disturbed areas. They are distinguished by their spores; the peristome teeth are haplolepideous with a 4:2:3 formula, and an exostome is absent.
Jaffueliobryum is a genus of moss in family Ptychomitriaceae.
Mamillariella geniculata is a species of moss in the family Leskeaceae. It is endemic to Russia, where it is an endangered species known from only five to seven locations in the Russian Far East. It grows in deciduous forest habitat which is threatened by development.
Renauldia lycopodioides is a species of moss in the family Pterobryaceae. It is endemic to Tanzania, where it is known from only two locations and is considered an endangered species. It grows on tree branches in forested habitat. It is threatened by deforestation.
Andreaeobryum, the Mossy Cowl Moss, is a genus of moss with a single species Andreaeobryum macrosporum, endemic to Alaska and western Canada. The genus is placed as a separate family, order and class among the mosses.
Oedipodium is the only genus of moss in the family Oedipodiaceae. It contains the single species Oedipodium griffithianum, the gouty-moss or Griffith's oedipodium moss. This species is distributed in cooler climates of Eurasia, as well as from Alaska, Washington state, British Columbia, Yukon, Greenland, Newfoundland, Tierra del Fuego and the Falkland Islands.
Tetraphidaceae is a family of mosses. It includes only the two genera Tetraphis and Tetrodontium, each with two species. The defining feature of the family is the 4-toothed peristome.
Bryales is an order of mosses.
Encalyptales is an order of mosses in subclass Funariidae. It contains a single family.
Timmia is a genus of moss. It is the only genus in the family Timmiaceae and order Timmiales. The genus is named in honor of the 18th-century German botanist Joachim Christian Timm.
Pseudoditrichum is a rare North American genus of haplolepideous moss (Dicranidae). It is the only known genus in its family (Pseudoditrichaceae), and there is only one species in the genus. Pseudoditrichum mirabile has been found only in a small area along the Sloan River near Great Bear Lake. This is in the Northwest Territory in northern Canada, only a few kilometers south of the Arctic Circle.
Distichophyllum carinatum is a species of moss in the family Daltoniaceae. It is native to Europe and Asia, where it has a disjunct distribution. It is known to occur in Germany, China, and Japan. It is also known from Austria and Switzerland, but it may be extinct there today. It is very uncommon where it still occurs, growing in only four locations. It is listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Sematophyllaceae is a family of mosses, known commonly as signal mosses. They grow on rocks in wet or humid places. and are found nearly worldwide, especially in tropical and temperate regions. There are about 150 species, which form yellow to yellow-green mats with reddish stems.
William Russel Buck is an American bryologist.
