A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Orthotrichum sp.
Epiphytic moss. The members of the genus are small to medium-sized acrocarpous mosses: they form tufts that are 0.5cm to 4cm tall, are often slightly branched, and have spore capsules borne terminally on shoots, or on short side branches. Most species are opaque mid-green, dirty green or dark green. Their leaves are almost parallelsided, tapering very gradually from the base, and have tips that are anything from rounded to sharply pointed. Sporophytes (spore capsules) are produced annually from late spring to summer by most epiphytic Orthotrichum, but some species fruit rarely and instead reproduce primarily by using gemmae (asexual buds on the leaf surfaces). The sporophytes are light brown and roughly egg-shaped, tapering below into the seta (their supporting stalk) and opening at the top to release spores. In most species they are smooth when moist, but become furrowed when dry. Around the open mouth of the spore capsule is a double row of delicate teeth, forming a peristome that helps with spore release.
On the bark of a Holm oak tree
Spotted on Mar 28, 2012
Submitted on Mar 4, 2013
No Comments