Fissidens adianthoides | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Division: | Bryophyta |
Class: | Bryopsida |
Subclass: | Dicranidae |
Order: | Dicranales |
Family: | Fissidentaceae |
Genus: | Fissidens |
Species: | F. adianthoides |
Binomial name | |
Fissidens adianthoides | |
Fissidens adianthoides, the maidenhair pocketmoss, [2] is a moss in the family Fissidentaceae. It was first collected by Hedwig in 1801. [3]
It is found all over North America and even in Greenland and Alaska.
The Nitinaht First Nations of Vancouver Island used maidenhair moss to bandage wounds. It was named by the Anglo-Saxons because it resembles pubic hair. [4]
It is found in shady sites such as nearby moving water, near waterfalls, soil, open fields of grass, around the forest floor, decaying wood, on dripping limestone and stone rocks. [3] This moss can be commonly found on damp or wet soil and peat. It is scarcely found on decaying wood. [5]
Worldwide distribution: It is vastly distributed in the forests of the Northern Hemisphere, extending from the arctic, alpine and prairie regions, often in more sheltered locations. [6] It is widely distributed across North America. [6]
In context of the national and state/provincial distribution of Fissidens adianthoides are in the following:
Canada: AB, BC, LB, NB, NF, NS, NT, NU, ON, QC, SK, YT [7]
United States: AK, AL, AR, CA, CT, DE, FL, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, NJ, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, TN, TX, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, WY [7]
The plant itself is about 85 x 5mm. [3] It is dioicous. Dioicous is defined as a plant having the male (antheridia) and female (archegonia) reproductive organs in separate individuals. An archegonium is a multicellular reproductive organ that produces female gametes. The antheridium is the male structure that holds, creates and releases sperm. It is a very robust plant and forms dark green to brown-green turfs. [5]
The stem is extremely branched. Fissidens adianthoides have a central strand. The central strand contains thin-walled cells called hydroids that conduct water and sterids which provide structural support.
There are about 60 pairs of leaves that are slightly undulate (wavy) in texture. [3] The shape is oblong to lanceolate (narrow oval) and tapered to an acute point. Sometimes the leaf can be obtuse in shape. [3] The lamina also known as the leaf blade, is round and then narrows towards the apex. [3] The leaf margin is crenulate (finely scalloped) to regular serrulate (sawlike). [3] The marginal cells are often thinner with thicker cell walls. [3] There are about 2-3 cells in the costa. [3] The leaf cells are very turgid and irregularly round-like hexagons. [5] These leaf cells are unistratose which means they are single layered. They are also smooth and firm-walled. [3]
The perigonium is the reproductive structure which holds the male organs. It is made up of an antheridia, paraphyses and perigonial leaves. Paraphyses are upright sterile filament-like structures that support the reproductive apparatus of bryophytes.
The perichaetium is reproductive structure which holds the female organs. It is made up of an archegonia, paraphyses, and perichaetial leaves. The perichaetium is located on short axillary branches. [3]
A sporophyte is the diploid multicellular stage in the life cycle of a moss which produces spores. They are commonly observed in this species. There is one sporophyte produced per perichaetium. [3] The seta, which is a stalk that supports capsule, is relatively short and is 25 mm in length. It is red-brown in colour and inserted laterally. [5] The operculum (lid) is about the same length as the rest of the sporangium. [5] The capsule of the sporophyte is inclined, curved, bilaterally symmetric and about 1.5 mm. [3] As for the calyptra, it is cucullate, smooth and about 2.5 mm. [3] The spores are about 3-22 µm. [3]
Since it is a member of the Bryopsida class it also has arthrodontous peristome teeth which aid in spore dispersal. Fissidens adianthoides have 16 red teeth. Arthrodontous teeth are made up of cell wall fragments. They are also hygroscopic, meaning they move according to changes in humidity. They are about 85–120 μm wide at the base of the teeth and the upper part of the teeth are finely papillose. [5]
Like all bryophytes, Fissidens adianthoides have sporic meiosis as well as asexual reproduction.
Sporic meiosis is the alternation of heteromorphic generations and is characterized by each phase having a different free-living phase: one is the gametophyte which is usually haploid while the other is a sporophyte which is often diploid. [8] Additionally, sporic meiosis is a type of life cycle where meiosis results in spores not gametes. [8] The haploid gametophyte makes gametes from mitosis and the two gametes combine to form a zygote (2n), which then develops into a sporophyte. [8] The sporophyte creates spores via meiosis which are haploid and then develops into the gametophyte.
There are two forms of asexual reproduction in this species. The first is fragmentation where the bryophyte is broken into completely separate pieces and grows to become a new individual from the parent plant. The second method is regeneration from caducous organs. [9] This is when the organs of the plant such as leaves, shoots, leaf apices, and branches detach from the parent shoot. As a result, the moss is able to regenerate from these detached areas and continues to survive.
F. adianthoides was used in the past for bandaging wounds. It was noted that the First Natives of Nitinaht in Vancouver Island, Canada used this moss as well. [10]
The family Fissidens was used in several Asian countries like Bolivia as an antibacterial remedy for sore throats or other bacterial infections. [10] Other usages included burning Fissidens to promote hair growth in China. [11]
Currently, however, it serves no important economic or commercial usage. [12]
Fissidens adianthoides is often confused with many similar species such as F. osmundioides. They both have similar laminal cells. [1] Also they have a serrate leaf apex. [1] The only feature that differentiates the two is that F. osmundioideshas terminal perichaetia and rhizoids papillose in nature. [1]
Another species that it often gets confused with is Fissidens dubius. They both have short perichaetial stems in the top of the proximal leaves and a lighter marginal laminal cell band. [1] The difference between the two is that F. adianthoides is a lot tinier and have more obscure laminal cells that are usually double stratose and irregular. [1] According to molecular studies by L.E. Anderson and V. S. Bryan (1956), they are not closely related. [1]
F. serrulatus is a very similar species as well. However, it has longer leaves and grows on damp soil or gravel nearby very shady streams. [13]
The features that distinguish Fissidens adianthoides from other similar species are by its "unistratose, smooth laminal cells, a lighter band of marginal laminal cells, and its short perichaetial stems." [3] Other distinguishing features are the pronounced teeth on the leaf margins and the tendency for this species to be soft with leaf points that curl downward when dry. [6]
Fissidentaceae is a morphologically homogeneous group that is defined by its distinct leaf structure. The leaf is made of two laminae; a dorsal lamina and an apical lamina. [14] They are also arranged in double vertical rows on the stem in the same plane and attachment. [14]
A molecular phylogenetic study states that the families Fissidentaceae and Dicranaceae are closely related. [15]
Fissidentaceae is an acrocarpous family that is made up of haplolepideous mosses and consists of one genus called Fissidens. [16] Fissidens comprises about 440 species. [16] However, this genus is rather poorly studied phylogenetically compared to other mosses in Bryophyta. Most of the species can be found in humid, warm and tropical areas of the globe and the number of species decreases proportionally to the decrease in latitude. [17]
The peristome teeth of Fissidens are morphologically identical to the members of the family Dicranaceae. [18]
In the study,”Molecular phylogeny of the genus Fissidens (Fissidentaceae, Bryophyta) and a refinement of the infrageneric classification”, they have constructed a phylogenetic tree of 50 Fissidens species using DNA sequence of the rbcL and rps4 gene. [14] It was based on the ancestral similarities between the peristomal teeth, limbidium and chromosome number. Based on their findings, three subgenera were created: Pachyfissidens, Neoamblyothallia, and Fissidens. [14] The subgenus Fissidens was made up of five sections: Fissidens, Polypodiopsis, Aloma, Areofissidens, and Semilimbidium. [14]
In a study of the effect of the herbicide Asulam on moss growth, Fissidens adianthoides was shown to have intermediate sensitivity to Asulam exposure. [19]
Its conservation status is G5 [12] which means its secure and not endangered by any means.
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.
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'.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Sexual reproduction is a type of reproduction that involves a complex life cycle in which a gamete with a single set of chromosomes combines with another gamete to produce a zygote that develops into an organism composed of cells with two sets of chromosomes (diploid). This is typical in animals, though the number of chromosome sets and how that number changes in sexual reproduction varies, especially among plants, fungi, and other eukaryotes.
Itatiella ulei is a species of moss in the family Polytrichaceae. It is the only species in the genus Itatiella. The Polytrichaceae is a common family of mosses that does not have close living relatives. Its small size and the inflexed leaf apex characterize Itatiella ulei. When this species grows directly exposed to sun at high elevations, it presents a similar aspect but can be distinguished based on the distal lamella cells which are single and rhombic.
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.
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.
Climacium dendroides, also known as tree climacium moss, belongs in the order Hypnales and family Climaciaceae, 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. This plant was identified by Weber and Mohr in 1804. They often have stems that are around 2-10 cm tall and growing in the form of patches, looking like small palm-trees. 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. Their sporophytes are only abundant in late winter and early spring, and appears as a red-brown shoot with long stalk and cylindrical capsules.
Fissidens limbatus commonly known as Herzog's pocket-moss, is a moss in the family Fissidentaceae. This species is found growing in high elevations in tropical America in addition to the US, Mexico and Canada. Montagne first collected F. crispus in 1838.
Ulota is a genus of mosses comprising 69 species with a worldwide distribution, though most species are found in the southern hemisphere.
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.
Polytrichastrum formosum, commonly known as the bank haircap moss, is a species of moss belonging to the family Polytrichaceae.
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. It is part of the genus Andreaea which is known for forming dark brownish or reddish-black carpets in high elevations. This species was first described by Schimper in 1855.
Dicranoloma billardierei is a species of bryophyte in the genus Dicranoloma. This moss is extremely common in wet rainforest habitats. In the field, Dicranoloma billardierei, is often confused with Dicranoloma robustum and Dicranoloma fasciatum. However, the short and obtuse nature of the leaves make this moss normally very distinctive.