This is a closeup of a moss shoot tip bearing a slash cup filled with antheridia (male reproductive structures). The function of the splash cup is to use the momentum of rain drops to disperse the sperm contained within the antheridia.
And here is a closeup of the interior of the splash cup.
Hi there
Found your blog while surfing for a picture similar to a bryo-specimen I have colledted. My specimen looks very similar to your pictures above. Can you telle me the species?
About my plant: leaves becoming bigger towards the shoot tip, more or less tongue shaped leaves with coarse teeth, cells large, hyaline rhombic-rectangular, nerve ends in an short tip.
Hope you can help me solve this “mystery” 🙂
Cheers
Rasmus
Comment by Rasmus Fuglsang — October 10, 2012 @ 01:58
I am not sure what species this was. It was mixed in with Ceratodon purpureus and Bryum argenteum. The specimen was collected from paving stones at a sewage treatment plant. Perhaps Tortula ruralis but that is just a guess. I usually need to key out specimens of the smaller mosses.
Comment by admin — October 12, 2012 @ 11:12