Climacium dendroides | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Division: | Bryophyta |
Class: | Bryopsida |
Subclass: | Bryidae |
Order: | Hypnales |
Family: | Climaciaceae |
Genus: | Climacium |
Species: | C. dendroides |
Binomial name | |
Climacium dendroides (Hedw.) F. Weber & D. Mohr | |
Climacium dendroides, also known as tree climacium moss, [1] [2] belongs in the order Hypnales [3] and family Climaciaceae, [4] in class Bryopsida and subclass Bryidae. It is identified as a "tree moss" due to its distinctive morphological features, and has four species identified across the Northern Hemisphere. The species name "dendroides" describes the tree-like morphology of the plant, and its genus name came from the structure of the perforations of peristome teeth. [1] This plant was identified by Weber and Mohr in 1804. [5] [1] They often have stems that are around 2-10 cm tall and growing in the form of patches, [2] looking like small palm-trees. [1] They have yellow-green branches at the tip of stems. The leaves are around 2.5-3 mm long, with rounder stem leaves and pointier branch leaves. [2] Their sporophytes are only abundant in late winter and early spring, and appears as a red-brown shoot with long stalk and cylindrical capsules. [2]
This species mostly dominate in moist and damp regions such as swamps, [2] peatland and lake edges, as well as humus-rich woods, areas where water fluctuates periodically. [1] They can be terrestrial or dominating woods and logs, they rarely grow on rocks and regions that lack moisture. They are often found in sea-level to subalpine elevations and in alpine tundras. [2] This species is relatively widespread but not common, they are found in northern to central Europe and Asia, the South Island of New Zealand, and North America. [6] In North America, it can be found in the Northeastern region above 45°N, and as south as the Western regions of New Mexico. [6] They can also be found in some regions in Asia, like Japan and Korea. [7]
The colour of this plant is dark green to yellow, and they can be glossy as well when they are dry. [1] They also have separate stem and branch leaves with different structure. The stem leaves appears to have an obtuse apex, flatter against the stem and broader then the branch leaves. [1] They are not pleated and near insertion area they contain multiple laminal cells. [1] Their insertions are well-spaced and all have round tips. [2] For the branch leaves, they are narrower and has a toothed margin near the tip with longitudinal folds. They have a similar shape with the stem leaves, both are egg-shaped but branch leaves are narrower. [2] They have elongated leaf cells, and around the basal angles the stem and branch leaves contain enlarge hyaline cells with thin walls. [5] The leaves are around 2.5-3 mm long in size. The arrangement of leaves gives the plant a palm tree-like appearance, with 2-3 cm tall stems arising from prostrate primary stems that looks like rhizomes. The attachment region of branch leaves to stem appears flat and continuous with the leaf outline, it is round to cordate and auriculate from the flexion of the margins. The stems are reddish-brown and can be short in dry areas, they appear tree-like in areas with plenty of moisture. [1] The upright stems contains small green filaments, and the branched horizontal stems is where the tree-like structure (2-10cm) grows out from. [2] Their capsules are upright and oblong-cylindric, ranging from 1.5-4 mm, they are quite rare to encounter since male plants are more rare than female ones.
In contrast with vascular plants that only has two sets of chromosomes (diploid), bryophytes are known to have a haploid generation with a single set of chromosomes, this happens in the sporophyte stage of their life cycle.
The life-cycle starts with a haploid spore that germinates to produce a protonema, which are thread-like filaments or thalloid. Protonema is a combination of chloronema, caulonema and rhizoids. Chloronema are usually first formed, they are irregularly branched, has transverse crosswalls that are not pigmented, and round chloroplasts with no buds forming yet. Later on, the caulonema forms that are regularly branched, has pigmented and oblique crosswalls, spindle-shaped chloroplasts and has buds forming. Rhizoids are also present here, it helps the gametophyte that forms later on to attach to its substrate. The protonema then produces the gametophore that is structurally differentiated into stems and leaves, one or more gametophores can be formed from a single protonema. The gametophyte is formed from the caulonema buds and they undergo mitosis to produce haploid sex gametes (sperm and eggs).
The gametophores also produce specialized sexual structures that houses the sperm and eggs on separate gametophytes (since Climacium dendroides are dioecious). The female structure produced is called the archegonia and are surrounded by a group of modified leaves known as the perichaetium. The archegonia are small flask-shaped structure with a neck-like structure called the venter down which the male sperm swim to the enclosed female eggs. This is also where fertilization occurs. The male structures are known as antheridia and are protected by modified leaves called the perigonium.
Fertilization will occur with the aid of water, sperm will be transported from antheridia to archegonia and travel down its venter to reach the egg, where fertilization will happen. Producing a diploid sporophyte. The sperm is biflagellate, they have two flagellae that aid in propulsion. The immature sporophyte then grows out from the archegonial venter. A sporophyte contains a seta (that holds up the sporangium), a capsule with an operculum cap, and a coat enclosing the capsule called the calyptra that grew from the venter of archegonia and is the only haploid structure in sporophyte. When the sporophyte is fully mature the calyptra falls off and reveals the peristome teeth within. Meiosis occurs in the sporangium and haploid spores are produced and released through the control of peristome teeth. The spores are usually carried by the wind to their new substrate where the life cycle repeats again.
Sporophytes are not often found except during late winter and early spring near areas with plenty of moisture. [1] The short cylindric capsules of this species often mature in the fall. [5] This species is known to have a dioecious gametophore (having male and female gametophores on different plants. [8] They have a long seta with sporangium at the terminal end. [8] The spores are released when the operculum dehisces and can be aided via hygroscopic dehiscence. [8] They also contain peristome teeth that controls the release of the spores. The spores are unicellular. [8]
Climacium dendroides was named Moss of the Year in 2017 by the Latvian Botanists' Association. [9]
A gametophyte is one of the two alternating multicellular phases in the life cycles of plants and algae. It is a haploid multicellular organism that develops from a haploid spore that has one set of chromosomes. The gametophyte is the sexual phase in the life cycle of plants and algae. It develops sex organs that produce gametes, haploid sex cells that participate in fertilization to form a diploid zygote which has a double set of chromosomes. Cell division of the zygote results in a new diploid multicellular organism, the second stage in the life cycle known as the sporophyte. The sporophyte can produce haploid spores by meiosis that on germination produce a new generation of gametophytes.
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, Bryophyta consists of the mosses only. Bryophytes are characteristically limited in size and prefer moist habitats although they 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'.
A sporophyte is the diploid multicellular stage in the life cycle of a plant or alga which produces asexual spores. This stage alternates with a multicellular haploid gametophyte phase.
Hornworts are a group of non-vascular Embryophytes constituting the division Anthocerotophyta. The common name refers to the elongated horn-like structure, which is the sporophyte. As in mosses and liverworts, hornworts have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which cells of the plant carry only a single set of genetic information; the flattened, green plant body of a hornwort is the gametophyte stage of the plant.
Fissidens adianthoides, the maidenhair pocketmoss, is a moss in the family Fissidentaceae. It was first collected by Hedwig in 1801.
Monoicy is a sexual system in haploid plants where both sperm and eggs are produced on the same gametophyte, in contrast with dioicy, where each gametophyte produces only sperm or eggs but never both. Both monoicous and dioicous gametophytes produce gametes in gametangia by mitosis rather than meiosis, so that sperm and eggs are genetically identical with their parent gametophyte.
Plant reproduction is the production of new offspring in plants, which can be accomplished by sexual or asexual reproduction. Sexual reproduction produces offspring by the fusion of gametes, resulting in offspring genetically different from either parent. Asexual reproduction produces new individuals without the fusion of gametes, resulting in clonal plants that are genetically identical to the parent plant and each other, unless mutations occur.
This page provides a glossary of plant morphology. Botanists and other biologists who study plant morphology use a number of different terms to classify and identify plant organs and parts that can be observed using no more than a handheld magnifying lens. This page provides help in understanding the numerous other pages describing plants by their various taxa. The accompanying page—Plant morphology—provides an overview of the science of the external form of plants. There is also an alphabetical list: Glossary of botanical terms. In contrast, this page deals with botanical terms in a systematic manner, with some illustrations, and organized by plant anatomy and function in plant physiology.
Dawsonia superba is a moss in the class Polytrichaceae that is found in Australia, New Guinea, Malaysia and New Zealand. D. superba is the tallest self-supporting moss in the world, reaching heights of 60 cm (24 in). It has analogous structures to those in vascular plants that support large size, including hydroid and leptoid cells to conduct water and photosynthate, and lamellae that provide gas chambers for more efficient photosynthesis. D. superba is a member of the class Polytrichopsida, although it has a sporophyte that is unique from other hair-cap mosses.
Tetraphis pellucida, the pellucid four-tooth moss, is one of two species of moss in the acrocarpous genus Tetraphis. Its name refers to its four large peristome teeth found on the sporophyte capsule.
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.
Splachnaceae is a family of mosses, containing around 70 species in 6 genera. Around half of those species are entomophilous, using insects to disperse their spores, a characteristic found in no other seedless land plants.
Pogonatum urnigerum is a species of moss in the family Polytrichaceae, commonly called urn haircap. The name comes from "urna" meaning "urn" and "gerere" meaning "to bear" which is believed to be a reference made towards the plant's wide-mouthed capsule. It can be found on gravelly banks or similar habitats and can be identified by the blue tinge to the overall green colour. The stem of this moss is wine red and it has rhizoids that keep the moss anchored to substrates. It is an acrocarpous moss that grows vertically with an archegonium borne at the top of each fertilized female gametophyte shoot which develops an erect sporophyte.
Polytrichum strictum, commonly known as bog haircap moss or strict haircap, is an evergreen and perennial species of moss native to Sphagnum bogs and other moist habitats in temperate climates. It has a circumboreal distribution, and is also found in South America and Antarctica.
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.
Tortula muralis, commonly known as wall-screw moss, is a species of moss in the family Pottiaceae. T. muralis is found throughout the world.
Syntrichia latifolia, formerly Tortula latifolia, and commonly known as water screw-moss, is a species of moss belonging to the family Pottiaceae. Syntrichia species differ from members of Tortula due to synapomorphic leaf qualities, such as different basal and distal cells, as well as different costal cross sections where Tortula has an abaxial epidermis and Syntrichia lacks one.
Polytrichastrum formosum, commonly known as the bank haircap moss, is a species of moss belonging to the family Polytrichaceae.