Lab 12: Bryophytes : Mosses and Liverworts (and hornworts)

Lab 12: Bryophytes :
Mosses and Liverworts
(and hornworts)

Bryophytes

• Plants without well developed vascular systems.
• Sporophyte (diploid generation) is attached to and dependent on the

gametophyte for the entire life cycle.
• The gametophyte is the leafy part. The sprophyte is the spore bearing

part.
• Used to be one phyllum (Bryophyta). Now three: Bryophyta (mosses),

Hepatophyta (liverworts), and Anthoceraphyta (hornworts)

Comparison of Moss Mosses: Class Bryophyta
and Liverwort
Characteristics • Gametophytes are leafy.
• Sporophytes have capsules on the

end of stalks (setae).

Prepared by : Barbara Crandall-Stotler, Department of Leafy liverworts: Class
Plant Biology, Southern Illinois University, Jungermanniidae
Carbondale, IL 62901-6509
• Gametophytes have leaves without
costa (midvein)

• Leaves inserted at angle to stem.
• Leaves in 2-3 rows.
• Sporophyte has a transluscent stalk,

capsule black and egg-shaped

Thalloid liverworts: Class
Marchantiophyta

• Flat thallus
• Umbrella-shaped structure on

gametophyte is a carpocephalum.
• Sporophyte is hidden under the

carpocephallum.

Photos: Natural perspective website:http://www.perspective.com/nature/plantae/bryophytes.html

Moss life cycle

Sporophyte
Gametophyte

Acrocarpous vs. pleurocarpous mosses

Acrocarpus:
• erect growth form
• non branching
• terminal archegonia and
fruiting bodies

Pleurocarpus:
• branched morphology
• fruiting bodies in axils of
lateral branches

Polytrichum commune

Hyocomium armoricum



Moss Capsules:

http://www.hiddenforest.co.nz/bryophytes/mosses/photos/intro06.htm

Campylium stellatum (Hedw.) Lindb.

Family: Amblystegiaceae
Common Name:
Star Campylium Moss

• Pleurocarpus.
• Has bristly appearance of bottle-brush.
• Single stem and squarrose (at right angles to the

stem) somewhat contorted (when dry) leaves.
• Occurs in wet calcareous fens.

Plants of the Western Boreal Forest & Aspen Parkland,
by Johnson and Kershaw

http://wisplants.uwsp.edu/bryophytes/speciesphoto/CAMSTE.jpg

Drepanocladus uncinatus (Hedw.) Warnst.
(= Sanonia uncinata)

Family: Amblystegiaceae

Common Name:
Sanionia Moss or
Sickle Moss

Plants of the Western Boreal Forest & Aspen Parkland,
by Johnson and Kershaw

• Falcate secund leaves (turned to one side and
strongly curved).

• Pleurocarpus.
• Plicate (pleated lengthwise) leaves with drawn out

fine point.
• Often in pure mats, having a shiny golden color (in

dry situations).
• Often found in drier areas, calcareous soils.

http://www.borealforest.org

Scorpidium scorpioides (Hedw.) Limpr.

Family: Amblystegiaceae

Common Name:
Scorpidium Moss

http://home.clara.net/adhale/bryos/sscorpio.htm Baldellia ranunculoides, Scorpidium scorpioides,
Potamogeton gramineus, Eleocharis multicaulis,
Eleogiton fluitans, Littorella uniflora.

http://users.bathspa.ac.uk/watd2/veglist.html

• Grows in submerged aquatic calcareous habitats.
• Pleurocarpus.
• Flacate secund leaves.
• Very dark colored, often black leaves.
• Plants can be very large.
• Distinguished from Drepanocladus by lack of costa

(central midvein of leaves)

Tomentypnum nitens

Family: Brachytheciaceae

Common Name:
Tomentypnum Moss

Tomentypnum nitens-Trichophorum http://www.floraislands.is/MOSAR/tomennit1m.jpg
caespitosum community.
• Common most abundant moss in moist fens, nonacidic soils.
Photo from http://www.geobotany.uaf.edul • Pleurocarpus
• Soft appearance with golden color.
• Leave strongly plicate and acuminate (sharply pointed).
• Stems covered in reddish brown tomentum.

Aulacomnium palustre (Hedw.) Schwaegr.

Family: Aulacomniaceae
Common Name:
Aulacomnium Moss

• http://www.geog.ubc.ca/richmond/city/bryophytesphotos.html
• Often with bright yellow green leaves.
• Pleurocarpus,erect, upright branches
• Leaves sharp pointed, serrulate (minutely regularly toothed) at

the tip.
• Leaves twist when dry.
• Reddish brown tomentum on stem.
• Occurs in neutral to acidic habitats, moist sites, often mixed with

Photo and Description from http://www.borealforest.org

Aulacomnium turgidum (Wahlenb.) Schwaegr

Family: Aulacomniaceae

Common Name:
Turgid Aulacomnium Moss

• Robust plants with yellow green dull color. Photos from http://www.nrm.se/kbo/krypt/aulatur/aulatur3.html.se
• Pleurocarpus, upright brances, but

sometimes unbranched.
• Obtuse,concave, oblong-ovate leaves
• Leaves strongly imbricate (overlapping as

in shingles).
• Very common in moist to drier calcareous

habitats often mixed with Rhytidium
rugosum,Hylocomium splendens.
• Leaf cells strongly sinuous, often star-
shaped.

Dicranum scoparium Hedw.

Family: Dicranaceae
Common Name:
Brook Moss

http://www.geog.ubc.ca/richmond/city/bryophytesphotos.html

http://www.borealforest.org http://sunsite.ee/taimed/sammal/hkaksh.htm

• Dicranums arcrocarpus mosses.
• Grow in tufts or loose mats.
• Leaves erect, falcate secund
• Leaves lanceolate to ovate lanceolate,

toothed on the upper margins.
• Grows in moist acidic habitats.

Distichium capillaceum (Hedw.) B.S.G.

Family: Ditrichaceae

Common Name:
Distichium Moss

www.ijon.de/moose/geni/distichium.html

• Acrocarpus.
• Distichous leaves (arranged in two

rows on opposite sides of the stem) that
sheath the stem (like and Iris).
• Capsule is erect cylindrical.
• Common in moist to dry calcareous
habitats

http://www.floraislands.is/MOSAR/disticap1m.jpg

Ditrichum flexicaule (Schwaegr.) Hampe

Family: Ditrichaceae

Common Name:
Ditrichum Moss

Plants of the Western Boreal Forest & Aspen Parkland, http://www.pictures.dnlb.dk/FloraDanica
by Johnson and Kershaw

• Common in moist to dry calcaeous habitats.
• Slender upright flexuous leaves from all sides of the stem.
• Often has a dark “Army-green” appearance. often blackish

bases to stems.
• Often found with Distichium, but does not have distichous

leaves.

Pleurozium schreberi (Brid.) Mitt.

Family: Entodontaceae

Common Name:
Big Red Stem Moss or
Schreber's Moss

http://www.borealforest.org

• Common pleurocarpus moss in forests.
• Bright red stem when wet.
• Irregularly pinnately branched.
• Leaves are shiny yellow-green,bluntish.
• Often occurs with and can be confused with

Hylocomium splendens (next slide), which is
more regularly pinnately branched, and has
paraphyllia, and has stair-step branching.

http://sunsite.ee/taimed/sammal/palus.htm

Hylocomium splendens (Hedw.) B.S.G.

Family: Hylocomiaceae

Common Name:
Stair-step Moss

http://www.borealforest.org http://www.nic.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/plants/bryophyta/
bryopsida/bryales/hylocomiaceae/hylocomium/splende
• Feather moss. ns-1x.jpg
• Stair-step branching formed from annual

growth increments. (Stair-step branching
generally does occur in the tundra).
• Regularly twice pinnately branched.
• Numerous paraphyllia (tiny scales or leaf-like
structures) on the stems.
• Most common moss in the boreal forest.

Rhytidiadelphus triquetrus (Hedw.) Warnst.

Family: Rhytidiaceae

Common Name: Electrified cat’s tail moss

• Robust, coarse, irregularly branched
plants.

• Upper tuft of leaves more “ruffled” than
the lower leaves.

• Common boreal forest moss.

http://www.floraislands.is/mosamynd.htm

http://www.borealforest.org

Polytrichum strictum Brid.

Family: Polytrichaceae • Polytrichaceae have vascular
bundles.
Common Name:
Polytrichum Moss • Polytrichum leaves have lamellae
(can be viewed with hand lens)

• P. strictum has reddish brown leaf
points.

• Entire margins to the leaves.

• Whitish gray rhizoids on lower stem
and “root” (separates this from P.
juniperinum).

Photo by Ilkka Korpela Cross section of Polytrichum Above photos from Plants of the Western Boreal Forest
& Aspen Parkland, by Johnson and Kershaw
leaf.

http://www.botany.ubc.ca/bryophyte/3320.jpg

Sphagnum angustifolium (Russ.) Tolf.

Family: Sphagnaceae
Common Name:
Sphagnum

http://www.botanik.univie.ac.at/pershome/temsch/morpho.html

Plants of the Western Boreal Forest & Aspen Parkland, www.bioimages.org.uk
by Johnson and Kershaw

Sphagnum characteristics

Capitulum (Sphagnum head) • Consist of a main stem,
Branches branches, and head
(capitulum)

• Nature of stem leaves is a
primary diagnostic
character.

• Branch leaves are distinct
from stem leaves.

Stem leaves
Branch leaves

Photos: Spahgnum website: http://www.botanik.univie.ac.at/pershome/temsch/morpho.html

Sphagnum warnstorfii Russ.

Family: Sphagnaceae

Common Name: Warnstorf's sphagnum

• Red, often wine color, mixed with green leaves.
• Branch leaves are five-ranked (alligned in

rows).
• Grows in more calcareous habitats than other

Sphagna.

http://www.floraislands.is/mosamynd.htm

http://www.borealforest.org

Splachnum luteum

Family: Splachnaceae
Common Name: Yellow Moosedung Moss

• Bright yellow skirts of capsule bases.
• Splachnaceae are mostly nitrogeous dung mosses that

grow on scat and carcasses of small animals.

http://www.nrm.se/kbo/krypt/parasoll/parasoll3.html.se

http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/e/j/ejm220/Webpage/Features%20shared.htm

Characteristics of
liverworts

Leaves inserted at angles to stem.

Two major groups:
Leafy liverworts

• Look a lot like mosses except for
insertion of leaves and
arrangement in two or three rows,
inserted at angles to the stem.

• Leaf arrangement is critical to
identification.

Thalloid liverworts:

• Look more like foliose lichens.
“Flat green thallus” with no stems
or leaves.

UBC Botany 321 website:
http://www.botany.ubc.ca/bryophyte/liver
wortintro.html

Ptilidium ciliare

Family: Ptilidiaceae
Common Name: NA
• Example of a leafy liverwort.
• Leaves have ciliated margins.
• Concave leaves look inflated.
• Common in moist tundra.

http://www.floraislands.is/MOSAR/ptilicil1m.jpg
http://dommeldal.jnm.nl/illus/verslag05_1.jpg
http://www.uni-koeln.de/math-nat-fak/botanik/lehre/nebenfach2001/moose/ptilidium/ptilidium.htm

Marchantia polymorpha L. (slide 1 / 2)

Family: Marchantiaceae
Common Name: NA

• Large flat thalloid liverwort.
• Common on burned areas. Common weed.
• Unisexual. Male plants have lobed discs.

Females are “deely boppers” (finger-like lobes
extending out from the main stalk).

http://www.nps.gov/olym/crypto/photo/V_MAPO_sex.jpg

Male gametophyte Female gametophyte

http://www.hkflora.com/v2/projects/stud_proj03/img_medium/Marchantia_polymorpha.jpg

Marchantia polymorpha L. (slide 2 / 2)

Male gametophytes:

http://www.boga.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/html/Marchantia.polymorpha.ja4.jpg