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Moss and plant

  • Thread starter Wesley
  • Start date

Wesley

God must have an interesting sense of humor
Can you id this moss and plant
Unknown%20Moss.jpg


Unknown%20Moss2.jpg


Unknown%20Plant.jpg
 
Unless you are a dedicated expert with a microscope, specific moss ID is not possible by mortal man.
 
Agreed. You would also need the capsule for a positive ID.
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Ok, thanks, what about the plant?
 
We really need a moss expert on this forum! Seems like there have been alot of questions in this genre recently.
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SF
 
All the "moss experts" are in padded cells somewhere. Trust me, these plants are some of the hardest plants on Earth to ID. I did a study of mosses back in College, man was that ever a mistake! Gugin is right, without the sporangia there is no way to place a name on the species, and even getting the genus straight is a problem.
 
We have a Professor in the field of muscology (yes, the study of mosses) here in University where I am based at and believe me, it is difficult to get them IDed.

You may want to check out this link for more information.

Chapter four is relevant and here is a short excerpt:

4.2 Sphagnum Taxonomy
Sphagnum mosses belong to one of two genera in the family Sphagnaceae, class Sphagnopsida, Division Bryophyta. There are approximately 100 species found in North America, with 27 species
reported for western Washington (Crum, 1984). Thirteen species found (to date) in King County (Cooke 1997). Taxonomy used will follow McQueen and Andrus (in press).

The genus Sphagnum has been divided into ten Sections based on cortical cell anatomy, hyaline cell anatomy, number of branches per fascicle, branch color, branch leaf shape, position of green cells, the presence of fibrils, and habitat preference.

Six of the ten sections of the genus Sphagnum are represented in Washington State. There are six species in the Section Sphagnum (S. magellanicum, S. centrale, S. henryense, S. palustre, S.papillosum, and S. alaskense). These species have many characteristics in common; their cortical cells are reinforced with fibrils, and they have broad branch leaves that are blunted and concave, and have toothed backs.

There is only one species in the Section Rigida (S. compactum). Species in this section have uniform cortical cells that have a single pore at the upper end, very small stem leaves, and broadly truncate branch leaves with toothed margins.

There are two species in the Section Subsecunda (S. subsecundum and S. contortum). These species have branches with five or fewer fascicles and a small curved-branch capitulum. They are orange-yellow with a tinge of green, and have branch leaves arranged to one side. The branch leaves have hyaline cells that are arranged in bead-like rows along a seam down each hyaline cell for the length of the leaf.

The ten species of the Section Acutifolia (S. fimbriatum, S. girgensohnii, S. warnstorfii, S. russowii, S. fuscum, S. rubellum, S. bartlettianum, S. capillifolium, S. subnitens and S. rubiginosum) have five or fewer fascicle branches and have triangular or trapezoidal green (photosynthetic) cells in the branch leaves.

The six species in the Section Cuspidata (S. lindbergii, S. riparium, S. annulatum, S. mendocinum, S. pacificum, S. angustifolium) are green or brown, have elongate and tapered branch leaves, and have the green cells exposed on the inner (ventral) surface of the leaf. These species are usually found in wet depressions or are aquatic, and have stem leaves that are modified (resorbed hyaline cells in outer walls), occasionally to the extent that the leaf becoming split. The branch leaves are often undulate when dry.

The final Section, Squarrosa, has two representative species in Washington (S. squarrosum and S. teres). These species have branch leaves that are not undulate when dry. They are instead squarrose (leaves with the upper portion bent back at right angles to the stem).

So, which one of the 100 or so Sphagnum species in America do you have?

Have I confused everybody yet?
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The plant you have pictured there is a woodland wildflower called Spotted Wintergreen.  I have seen this plant a million times in the woods where I grew up (in VA) and often dug it up for terrariums.  Native Americans called it Sipsisewa.

Here are the particulars:

Spotted Wintergreen
Chimaphila maculata
Family Pyrolaceae

Characteristics:
* Leaves broad, tapering, deeply toothed, with a variegated whitish pattern on midribs, 1-3". Arranged in whorls on stem.
* Flowers waxy white or pink, nodding.
* Fruits red, dry capsules.
* Height: 4-10".

Natural History:
* Flowers June - August.
* Habitat: Forest floors.
* Range: Michigan, Ontario, Maine south.
* Native.


* This plant is in high esteem for its medicinal qualities among the natives; they call it Sip-si-sewa.

I've always had a fondness for this plant.  
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Suzanne
 
Thanks, that is really nifty.
 
  • #10
guqin,

Thank you very much for that link. It may come in very handy some day. BTW, does your sig say, "I think therefore I am?"

SF
 
  • #11
At last! Someone understood what the signature was about. At least it is within 15 characters!
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  • #12
I took one semester of Latin, so I know a few words here and there. That's a good idea of putting Latin mottoes in your sig, I might do the same.

SF
 
  • #13
Latin lessons. Wow, that's a tough one. I never had any lessons but I am doing research in taxonomy, and Latin is something that I have to deal with everyday. It is horrible trying to translate a species description from Latin to English from literature dating from 1758! Yes, some of us do this for a living you know.
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  • #14
I took Latin for 2 years and know all about the agony of translation.
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I can still sing "Jingle Bells" in Latin to this day. lol Latin does help you a lot with vocabulary so I think its still a worthwhile study.
 
  • #15
Descartes and Kant were having a beer. Kant said to Descartes "I think you should buy the next round". Descartes replied, "I think not!" and POOF: he disappeared!
 
  • #16
Err... Tamlin, could you please post that in Latin? I think I totally did not get the English version.
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  • #17
I thought it was funny! I've never been impressed by the conclusion, based upon its premise. Any Star Trek fan knows that there can be more than one conclusion to the premise. For example, Professer Moriarty was doing a lot of thinking, but he wasn't really in existence - except in the fantasy conjured up on the hollideck. Wasn't this post about moss?
 
  • #18
Gugin,

Apply a little of Spocks logic:

"I think, therefore I am so conversely, "I think not, therefore I am not" Poof. I disappear.

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