Specimen #4: Gymnostomum aeruginosum

Collection #: 4

Scientific Name: Gymnostomum aeruginosum

Phylum: Bryophyta; Bryopsida

Order: Pottiales

Family: Pottiaceae

Common Name: toothless cup moss

Location: Chargin Falls area, OH

Habitat: On the stone by the side of the trail

Date of collecting: September 17th

Collector: Cornelia

Notes: extremely small species

How did I key this out:

 Fig.1 Group picture

Fig.2 Single plant (with and without capsule) with measurement

Fig.3 Single plants with capsules under a scope

Fig.4 Single leaf under a dissecting scope

From the picture of the group of the plant sample (Fig.1) and individual plants (Fig.2 & Fig.3), we could easily figure that this plant is in the acrocarp growth form. The leaf picture (Fig.4 and Fig.5) shows that this specimen is with lance-shaped leaves with a midrib (Fig.5 if you look closely and carefully enough). By knowing these features, we could now go to the key: KEY II: Acrocarps with Lance-shaped Leaves.

Fig.5 Single leaf under a microscope

The following steps is how I went through the keys:
1. (B) Plants darker green, yellow green, or brownish black, shoots loosely associated or if densely packed then not in domed mounds; leaves flat or folded but not tubular, with midrib usually visible at least at base of leaf. (See Fig.1, Fig.2 and Fig.5 for this fact.) (3)
3. (B) Plants on soil, rocks, trees, or logs in dry areas, or if in wetter areas, not submerged in water; leaves not folded at base. (4)
4. (B) Leaf surface not rippled or wavy when wet. (See Fig.4 and Fig.5 for this fact.) (9)
9. (B) Leaves <4 mm long. (21)
21. (B) Leaves spreading in various directions or barely diverging from stem when wet; plants lacking brood branchlets. (See Fig.3 and Fig.6 for this fact.) (22)
22. (B) Plants 0.2-2 cm tall. (See Fig.2 for this fact.) (34)
34. (B) Plants growing on rock, soil, rotting wood, tree base, or other substrate. (39)
39. (B) Shoot not surrounded by persistent protonema (no green film); leaves various. (See Fig.6 for this fact.) (40)
40. (B) Leaves not at all bluish and not cobwebby or moldy in appearance. (See Fig.4 for this fact.) (41)
41. (A) Leaves strongly contorted when dry, twisted and curled, sometimes into corkscrews. (See Fig.2 for this fact.) (42)
42. (B) Capsules upright, nor curved or grooved when dry. (See Fig.2 and Fig.3 for this fact.) (43)
43. (B) Capsules goblet- or egg-shaped (See Fig.3 and Fig.7 for this fact.), up to 1 mm long, stalks 2-8 mm tall. (See Fig.2 for this fact.) (45)
45. (B) Leaves 1-2 mm long. (46)
46. (A) Capsule rim lacking teeth. (See Fig.7 and Fig.8 for this fact.) (Gymnostomum aeruginosum, P83)

Fig.6 Branch under a scope

Fig.7 Capsule releasing spores

Fig.8 Capsule releasing spores in a closer view

 Fig.9 Spore cells in a closer look

Fig.10 Cell structure

Description of the species:
Plants prefer to grow on damp, calcium-enriched rock in shady spaces. Leaves are about 1 mm long. Capsules are goblet-shaped, toothless, and also usually lacking recessed, shallowly beaked lid.

Collecting and keying story:

On the day when I collected this, Willa told us to pay close attention to collect moss species with capsules, since sometimes it might be necessary to have a capsule while keying. As you can see from the pictures, this is a really small species and I almost missed the tiny capsules. But anyway I got it ^_^.
During the keying process, I picked out a single plant with the capsule on it and make a slide out of it to take a closer look of the capsule under the microscope to see whether it has teeth or not. Since I only keyed this one thing on that day, I just saved the slide for the next day to take a picture with other species.
On the second day, as soon as I put the slide under the scope, I saw Fig.7 happening. The cap was opened and the capsule was releasing spores!!! I got so excited that I actually screamed, and run all the way down the hall way to call Willa to come and see this fantastic fact. It was my first time to see real spores!!!
I took a huge bunch of pictures from different distances and got clear pictures of the spores. This is still a very exciting story for me to tell even until today.


Phylum, order and family name cited from:
http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=GYAE

Keys cited from:

  Common Mosses of the Northeast and Appalachians by Karl B. McKnight, Joseph R. Rohrer, Kirsten McKnight Ward and Warren J. Perdrizet. This book is in the series of the Princeton Field Guides and was published by Princeton University Press with copyright @ 2013.

Specimen #3: Leucobryum glaucum

Collection #: 3

Scientific Name: Leucobryum glaucum

Phylum: Bryophyta; Bryopsida

Order: Dicranales

Family: Leucobryaceae

Common Name: pincushion moss

Location: Camp Asbury, Hiram

Habitat: In the middle of a wet muddy trail

Date of collecting: August 30th

Collector: Cornelia

Notes: like a fluffy little animal

How did I key this out:

Fig.1 Group picture                                                                              Fig.2 Single plant

As you can see in the picture (Fig.2), it is pretty clearly that this plant is in the acrocarp growth form just like it's close relative Leucobryum albidum for my specimen #2, and the group of the plant also looks pretty alike except for the size of it (Fig.1). The leaf picture (Fig.3) shows that this specimen is with lance-shaped leaves without a midrib. By knowing these features, we could now go to the key: KEY II: Acrocarps with Lance-shaped Leaves.

Fig.3 Picture of a single leaf


The following steps is how I went through the keys:
1. (A) Plants gray or whitish green (dry) to light green (wet) (see fig.1 for this fact.); shoots very densely packed together forming domed mounds (see fig.2 for this fact.); leaves tubular in upper half and seemingly without midrib. (See fig.3 and fig.4 for this fact.) (2)
2. (A) Stems 1-9 cm tall; leaves 4-8 mm long; rarely with capsules. (Leucobryum glaucum, P123)

 Fig.4 Cell structure

Description of the species:
Appearance: Upright plants form dense, usually round cushions on the ground, like white-green sea urchins, brighter green when wet. Densely packed stems are 1-9 cm high, covered in leaves that are held stiffly straight or very slightly curved away from stem. When teased apart, upper stems are opaque pale green and previous growth below is dead-looking brown. 
Leaves: Lance shape, 4-8 mm long, with a flat, dear, egg-shaped base (with air bubbles inside visible v 1 a hand lens) from which extends an opaque blade with in-rolled edges, forming a trough or tubular stocky needle shape. Midrib is lacking, edges are smooth. 
Capsules: Cylindrical, 2 mm long, curved over, with a small bump at base and a long-beaked lid. Stalk is rust-colored, 9-17 mm tall. Capsules are infrequently produced; the plants reproduce vegetatively from bits of branches or leaves that break off. 
Habitat: Forest soil, often over mounds in the ground that are the remains of nearly decomposed logs, or growing on more recently fallen logs. 
Microscopic Features: Thick fleshy leaves are composed mainly of midrib, which consists of green, cholorphyll-containing cells sandwiched between layers of large, colorless cells (Fig.4). Actual leaf blade is reduced to a narrow band of dear cells on either side of midrib. 

Collecting and keying story:

August 30th was before the class actually started. It was an pre-class field trip about mushrooms when I collected this sample. I could still remember how cute the plant was, the group was a really small one and it just lays in the middle of the muddy trail. I picked it up and couldn't help myself but fondled it before I put it into the plastic bag. It was just so cute.


Phylum, order and family name cited from:
http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=LEGL19

Keys cited from:

  Common Mosses of the Northeast and Appalachians by Karl B. McKnight, Joseph R. Rohrer, Kirsten McKnight Ward and Warren J. Perdrizet. This book is in the series of the Princeton Field Guides and was published by Princeton University Press with copyright @ 2013.

Specimen #2: Leucobryum albidum

Collection #: 2

Scientific Name: Leucobryum albidum

Phylum: Bryophyta; Bryopsida

Order: Dicranales

Family: Leucobryaceae

Common Name: white moss

Location: the Triangle Lake area

Habitat: Wet area by the side of the boardwalk

Date of collecting: September 10th

Collector: Cornelia

Notes: very small plants with whitish green leaves

How did I key this out:

Fig.1 Group picture with size                                                                       Fig.2 Single plant

Fig.3 Picture of a single leaf

Since this is a really tiny type of plants (Fig.1), I picked out a single plant (Fig.2) to check the growth form of it. It might be a little bit confusing, but since there's not really long trailed stems or widely angled branches, I would say that it is the acrocarp growth form. (Later on when you get more used to the mosses, you will actually be able to tell as soon as you see a plant like this--the furry little whitish green groups of mosses are always Leucobryum.)From the leaf picture (Fig.3) we could see that this specimen is with lance-shaped leaves without a midrib. By knowing these features, we could now go to the key: KEY II: Acrocarps with Lance-shaped Leaves. (Again, later on when you are more familiar with the mosses, you will know that with the whitish color, acrocarp growth form and lance-shaped leaves without midrib all together, it can only be the Leucobryum. All other acrocarp plants with lance-shaped leaves have midribs.)

The following steps is how I went through the keys:
1. (A) Plants gray or whitish green (dry) to light green (wet) (see fig.1 for this fact.); shoots very densely packed together forming domed mounds (see fig.2 for this fact.); leaves tubular in upper half and seemingly without midrib. (See fig.3 and fig.4 for this fact.) (2)
2. (B) Stems <1 cm tall; leaves 2-4 mm long; (Combine fig.1 and fig.2 to figure the size of the stem and leaves.) often with capsules. (Leucobryum albidum, P123)

 Fig.4 Cell structure

Description of the species:
A smaller species more common in the southern part of our range; less than 1 cm tall, with leaves only 2-4 mm long. Clumps are sometimes not as dense and mounded.

Collecting and keying story:

As you can see, it is really easy to key this thing out--only 2 steps. In real life, this type of moss looks like a cute, small, furry white animal curling on the ground. They were really cute by all means and I really enjoyed collecting a sample of these. My specimen #3 (collected August 30th at Camp Asbury) is also a Leucobryum, but was a bigger species. As I mentioned in the general keying information before the keying steps, these mosses are very easy to distinguish as soon as you see them.



Phylum, order and family name cited from:
http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Leucobryum+albidum

Keys cited from:

  Common Mosses of the Northeast and Appalachians by Karl B. McKnight, Joseph R. Rohrer, Kirsten McKnight Ward and Warren J. Perdrizet. This book is in the series of the Princeton Field Guides and was published by Princeton University Press with copyright @ 2013.

Specimen #1: Atrichum altecristatum

Collection #: 1

Scientific Name: Atrichum altecristatum

Phylum: Bryophyta; Bryopsida

Order: Polytrichales

Family: Polytrichaceae

Common Name: wavy starburst moss

Location: South Russell, OH (Willa) Hiram College Field station (me)

Habitat: Lawn area under an oak tree (Willa) Wet soil  right beside the trail (me)

Date of collecting: September somewhere, 2015 (Willa) October 8th, 2015 (me)

Collector: Willa, Cornelia

Notes: Dry leaves usually curl up; sporophytes developing in Willa's sample; sporophytes beautifully developed in my sample with giant, beautiful capsule

How did I key this out:

Fig.1 Group picture                                                                       Fig.2 Single plant

From both the group picture (Fig.1) and the picture of a single plant (Fig.2) above, we could easily tell that this specimen is a plant with the acrocarp growth form. From the leaf picture (Fig.3) we could see that this specimen is with lance-shaped leaves, and the leaves do have a midrib. By knowing these features, we could now go to the key: KEY II: Acrocarps with Lance-shaped Leaves.

Fig.3 Picture of a single leaf

The following steps is how I went through the keys:
1. (B) Plants darker green, yellow green, or brownish black, shoots loosely associated or if densely packed then not in domed mounds; leaves flat or folded but not tubular, with midrib usually visible at least at base of leaf. (See Fig.1 for this fact.) (3)
3. (B) Plants on soil, rocks, trees, or logs in dry areas, or if in wetter areas, not submerged in water; leaves not folded at base. (See Fig.3 and 7 for this fact.) (4)
4. (A) Leaf surface rippled or wavy when wet. (See Fig.3 for this fact.) (5)
5. (A) Leaf midrib conspicuous to leaf tip (extra strips of tissue running along their length, visible as green and white stripes under 20x hand lens). (See Fig.3 for this fact.) (6)
6. (B) Midrib fills ≤¼ width of upper leaf; leaves 0.7-2 mm wide. (See Fig.3 for this fact.) (7)
7. (B) Plants 1-3 cm tall; lower stems often matted with rust-colored fuzz. (See Fig.4 for this fact.) (Atrichum altecristatum, P69)

Fig.4 Plant size

 Fig.5 Cell structure

Fig.6 (a) Immature capsule

Fig.6 (b) Mature capsule

Fig.7 (a) Habitat

Fig.7 (b) Habitat

Description of the species:
Appearance: Plants stand upright and unbranched, 1-3 cm tall and forming loose patches over ground. When wet, leaves spread out and give the plants a star-like appearance from above. When dry, leaves curl in tightly. Stem base is often matted with rust-colored fuzz.
Leaves: Long, narrow swords, 2-8 mm long and 1-2 mm wide. Leaves are rippled and bright green when wet; brown and contorted when dry. Midrib reaches leaf tip and fills no more than a quarter of the width of the upper leaf. Close inspection reveals green and white stripes running along the midrib. Leaf edges are toothed above middle; near tip, margins curve up like sides of a canoe. Tiny teeth are visible along ripples on undersurface of leaf.
Capsules: Cylindrical and usually upright to barely curved, 2-7 mm long, capped by a long beaked lid while developing. Stalk is red, 1-3 cm.
Habitat: Forest floor on mounds, sides of ravines or banks along roads, also in forest clearings and lawns.
Microscopic features: Thin strips of cells, 1-cell wide and 4-6 high in Atrichum altecristatum, compared with 2-4 cells high in A. crispulum, run along the midrib.

Collecting and keying story:

This is the first specimen Willa provided to us during lab for this course. It was a completely dried out sample. We put them under a dissecting scope and dropped water on them, and I was surprised by how fast the leaves absorbed water and stretched themselves. By looking at a leaf closely under a microscope, we figured that these moss leaves only have 1 layer of cells, and then Willa told us that this is actually a fact for almost all the mosses. Moreover, it was kind of easy to key this specimen out as well since all the characteristics for it were pretty clear.

I collected my sample on October 8th, 2015 during the field trip to Hiram College Field station. This class started by the end of August, so in October I already got this trained mental problem of "whenever I see a moss with a sporophyte, I want to collect it". When I saw these plants with those giant beautiful capsules (even with their lid on!), I couldn't help myself. I collected a huge sample with fresh wet soil attached. Later on I figured that it was the same thing as the first one I keyed out, but in the sample Willa provided us there were no developed capsule. So finally I got a good, nice sample with capsule for this specimen.

Phylum, order and family name cited from:
http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=ATAL6

Keys cited from:

  Common Mosses of the Northeast and Appalachians by Karl B. McKnight, Joseph R. Rohrer, Kirsten McKnight Ward and Warren J. Perdrizet. This book is in the series of the Princeton Field Guides and was published by Princeton University Press with copyright @ 2013.

General information

Hi everyone,

My name is Cornelia Yu and I'm setting up this blog for my Non-vascular Organisms Class. This is a class I'm taking right now (Fall 2015) at Hiram College as a Senior student discussing about mosses, liverworts, hornworts, fungi, lichens, slime molds and algae.

In this blog, I will basically post pictures of my specimens collections and their information as well as how I key them out.

There are two books I will be using the most and if not specially mentioned, then the specimens are keyed by these following 2 books:

           Common Mosses of the Northeast and Appalachians by Karl B. McKnight, Joseph R. Rohrer, Kirsten McKnight Ward and Warren J. Perdrizet. This book is in the series of the Princeton Field Guides and was published by Princeton University Press with copyright @ 2013. This is my "moss book".
           Mushrooms Demystified by David Arora (Second Edition).  This book was printed by Ten Speed Press with copyright @ 1979 and 1986. This is my "fungus book".


For moss keying, there are 3 key features according to the book that will decide which key we should go to:

1. Growth form
     ·Acrocarp--stems simple or sparsely forked, with the forks oftem running parallel to each other. Plants packed together like tufts of carpet. Capsules arise from end or tip of stem, but later growth can disguise this trait. Individual stems typically stand upright, but the exceptions are still rarely branched.
     ·Peat moss--stems stand upright with branches in clusters of 3 or more. Some branches spread outward and others hang down along the stem. Many branches are crowded at the top, forming a mop-like head.
     ·Pleurocaro--stems branch freely and at a wide angle, some irregularly, others in a pinnate pattern, i.e., regularly divided into opposite branches. Plants twine together to form mats. Capsules arise midstem. Stems typically trail along the ground or arch upward; a few stand on end rather than creep horizontally, but they still branch frequently.

2. Leaf shape
       ·Lance--narrowly ytiangular, with generally straight rather than curved sides that gradually taper to a point.
       ·Hairlike--very long and narrow, appearing "hairlike" to the naked eye.
       ·Leafless--capsules arise from mat of algal-like threads, lacking regular branches and leaves.
       ·Tongue--generally straight-sided coming to an abrupt tip, like a tongue or strap.
       ·Ovate--egg-shaped, arrowhead-shaped or with curved or bulging sides; relatively shorter and wider than lance-shaped leaves.
       ·Sickle--triangular or oval-shaped leaves tapering to a fine point curved to one side.
       ·Peat moss--branch and stem leaves of differing shape. Branch leaves ovate to lance-shaped and cupped. Stem leaves triangular to tongue-shaped and flat.

3. Midrib
       ·Lance with midrib
       ·Lance without midrib
       ·Ovate with midrib
       ·Ovate without midrib
       ·Sickle with midrib
       ·Sickle without midrib
       ·All tongue-shaped leaves have a midrib
       ·All hairlike leaves have a midrib


Moreover, since I'm more interested in the mosses right now, there will be a lot of mosses posted. In addition, if I'm going to keep updating this blog when the class is finished (we only have to post 20 specimens for the class), it will basically all be mosses.

I guess that's everything for now. Please enjoy your time with non-vascular organisms while reading posts from this blog! ^_^