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common pellia

Pellia epiphylla

Description:

The thalli are irregularly branched and are fairly large, growing to over 1 cm wide and several centimetres long. They are green, sometimes with a red or purple tinge. They are fairly featureless with an ill-defined midrib and no visible network of cells on the surface. There are many long rhizoids on the underside of the thallus but no ventral scales. Pellia epiphylla is monoicous, with both male and female sex organs on the same thallus. The small male organs are scattered along the midrib while the female organs grow near the tip of the thallus and are surrounded by a flap. The plant produces spherical, greenish-black capsules which are borne on stalks known as setae. These are pale green and up to 5 cm long

Habitat:

Pellia epiphylla (sometimes known as overleaf pellia or common pellia) is a species of thallose liverwort. It occurs in North America, Europe, North Africa and parts of Asia. It grows in patches in damp, sheltered places on neutral or acidic substrates. It is common on the banks of rivers, streams and ditches and also grows in wet woodland, marshes and on wet rocks

Notes:

Fertilisation takes place when the thallus is wet. The male sex organs (antheridia) absorb moisture and burst, releasing sperm. The sperm swim towards the female sex organs (archegonia) and fertilise the ova. The fertilised ovum develops into a small sporophyte plant which remains attached to the larger gametophyte plant. The sporophyte contains spores inside a capsule which are released when the capsule becomes mature and splits. The spores germinate to produce new gametophytes ( wikipedia ), ( http://www.pflanzenliebe.de/innen/innen_... ), ( http://www.kuleuven-kulak.be/kulakbiocam... ), ( http://www.google.nl/search?hl=nl&su... )

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5 Comments

AlexKonig
AlexKonig 12 years ago

some sort of "liverwort", have id it propperly!!

AlexKonig
AlexKonig 12 years ago

thx both,agree with you both. while i was offline i research a bit on my own. ----(auntnance123) the green moss which covered everything should belong to the fam: sphagnum--- but here must actually be 2 different mosses !! the one with the starlike sporangien, should lay beneath the other. ( evaH ) I found "pellia epiphylla" from the fam: marchantiopsida. THX both will upload the id.

EvaH
EvaH 12 years ago

It belongs to the moss class Marchantiopsida, I'm quite sure. But I'm no specialist and do not recognize the species. In a book I saw Jamesoniella autumnalis with similar features, also similar could be http://eol.org/pages/4098/entries/387267....

auntnance123
auntnance123 12 years ago

Just guessing here, but a type of sphagnum moss?

AlexKonig
AlexKonig 12 years ago

anyone here who has seen thos moss in different stages ?? would appreciate some suggestions!!

AlexKonig
Spotted by
AlexKonig

Heerlen, Limburg, Netherlands

Spotted on Mar 15, 2012
Submitted on Mar 18, 2012

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