Dawsonia

Dawsonia
	Dawsonia superba
Systematics
Department :	Moss (Bryophyta)
Subdivision :	Bryophytina
Class :	Polytrichopsida
Order :	Polytrichales
Family :	Polytrichaceae
Genre :	Dawsonia
Scientific name
	Dawsonia
	R.Br.

Dawsonia is a moss - genus in the family Polytrichaceae , sometimes set up as a separate family.

description

You can find a very strong differentiation of the tissues in them: A central strand in the middle of the stem is always present, so that the plants can become very high. The largest mosses with a height of up to 70 cm are in this order.

While the gametophyte is very similar to that of the Polytrichaceae , the capsules of the sporophyte are dorsiventral and the peristome is bristle or brush-shaped. They form the smallest spores under the moss with six to ten micrometers. The spores are spread by raindrops: when these fall on the flat top of the capsule, the spores are thrown out of the capsule.

Dawsonia superba grows up to 50 centimeters high, as does the native Polytrichum commune . Since D. superba has much larger leaflets, it is generally considered to be the largest moss on earth.

Occurrence

Dawsonia is common in Australia and Southeast Asia, where they can form extensive populations, similar to some representatives of the Polytrichales in Europe.

Systematics

The genus comprises around ten species, including:

Dawsonia superba

literature

Jan-Peter Frahm : Biology of Mosses. Spectrum Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg et al. 2001, ISBN 3-8274-0164-X .

Individual evidence

↑ Wolfgang Frey , Michael Stech, Eberhard Fischer: Bryophytes and Seedless Vascular Plants (= Syllabus of Plant Families. 3). 13th edition. Borntraeger, Berlin et al. 2009, ISBN 978-3-443-01063-8 , p. 144.

Web links

Commons : Dawsonia - collection of images, videos and audio files

[1] Wolfgang Frey , Michael Stech, Eberhard Fischer: Bryophytes and Seedless Vascular Plants (= Syllabus of Plant Families. 3). 13th edition. Borntraeger, Berlin et al. 2009, ISBN 978-3-443-01063-8 , p. 144.