Bryophyta aka "Mosses"

We are started learning out mosses in my Lichens and Bryophytes class yesterday and they are so cool! I definitely prefer them to the liverworts and the hornworts. Here are a couple of the most interesting specimens:

First, Leucolepis acanthoneura

This is the mouth of the sporophyte where the spores are released by the flailing hygroscopic endostome and exostome teeth.

This sporophyte is so tiny but looks huge and really cool under the microscope!

This growth type is called "dendroid" because they look like little palm trees!

And second, Orthotrichium papillosum

This sporophyte is so pretty with its bright green spores and peach colored recurved teeth.

Yay mosses!