Mosses,+Lichens+and+Liverworts

=The Forest Carpet: Mosses, Liverworts and Lichens (be careful where you tread!)= The moss leaf is only one cell thick! It has a stiff midrib to hold the leaf's shape when the moss dries out - this one is covered in green spores. || Spore capsules hold at least 1000 spores. They grow on the female moss plant. The brown "hood" (calyptra) is what is left of the egg sac. || The spores are pulled out through the twisted threads when the capsule is jarred by wind of an animal. || Moss leaves storing water. The thisk midrib holds the leaf's shape as it dries out and folds against the stem. || Most moss leaves grow in a spiral around the stem, with each leaf growing at 120° from each other. This moss has spiky leaves. Hidden from view are little parallel bands which trap water. || || Some mosses can hold up to 25 times their dry weight in water! || A leafy liverwort. Its leaves are lobe-shaped and sit flat against the stem. There is a third set of leaves on the underside. || //Thallose// liverworts are large flat sheets of cells which are shaped and feel like a human liver. Many thallose liverworts are green. || Splash cups on a thallose liverwort, full of "gemmae" which are splashed out when it rains and grow into new liverworts. || The waxy surface of a thallose liverwort stops water getting into the "breathing" pores. Each pore has an air sac below it. || Lichens can be shaped like crusts (//crustose//), leaves (//foliose//), beads (//squamulose//) or little shrubs (//fruticose//).The little black dots are spore caps. || A lichen has //apothecia// or spore cups. The spores are splashed out of the cups by raindrops. || A lichen's roots are called rhizines. They attach the lichen to a tree or rock. || //Soredia// are little granules of a fungus and an alga. They grow from inside the lichen and are one way the lichen reproduces itself. ||
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