I had a similar spotting of that shape sporophyte and was able to identify mine as Apple Moss (Bartramia pomiformis) - hard to tell from your pictures what the gametophyte looks like, though...
I can't identify the species, but it's the gametophyte and sporophyte generations of a moss. The "mossy" looking part that we normally think of as moss is the gametophyte generation. Its cells have one copy of each of its chromosomes (haploid). The ball-on-a-stick things are the sporophyte generation. The cells in this generation have two copies of each chromosome (diploid). The ball part contains haploid spores that will grow into the next gametophyte generation.
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I had a similar spotting of that shape sporophyte and was able to identify mine as Apple Moss (Bartramia pomiformis) - hard to tell from your pictures what the gametophyte looks like, though...
Very cool!
Nice stuff batex.
Me, too! I wish I could better identify mosses and other bryophytes.
I love alternation of generation! Waay cool.
I can't identify the species, but it's the gametophyte and sporophyte generations of a moss. The "mossy" looking part that we normally think of as moss is the gametophyte generation. Its cells have one copy of each of its chromosomes (haploid). The ball-on-a-stick things are the sporophyte generation. The cells in this generation have two copies of each chromosome (diploid). The ball part contains haploid spores that will grow into the next gametophyte generation.