Naked two-legged moss
| Naked two-legged moss | ||||||||||||
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Discelium nudum capsule |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the family | ||||||||||||
| Disceliaceae | ||||||||||||
| Chimp. | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Discelium | ||||||||||||
| Brid. | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Discelium nudum | ||||||||||||
| ( Dicks. ) Brid. |
The naked two- legged moss ( Discelium nudum ) is a systematically completely isolated pioneer moss and the only species of the monotypic genus Discelium and the monotypic family Disceliaceae .
features
The strange moss grows from a green, felty protonema the size of a coin. From this pre-germ the very small plants with the point-like looking gametophytes are formed, from which the asparagus-like sporogons grow in autumn. The sporophyte consists of a red colored seta and the later laterally inclined rounded capsule.
Location and distribution
The species only colonizes moist and compacted clay and loam soils. In areas with such soils, they can be found in gappy pastures, loam and clay pits as well as on pond dams and in the lanes of forest paths. Old wood storage areas are also popular with residents.
Just as strange as the moss itself is its distribution in Germany . The deposits are apparently not tied to any special climate requirements and run in an east-west direction through the center of the country. The southernmost occurrences are in the Upper Palatinate and Saarland , the northernmost locations are in southern Lower Saxony . The main distribution area in Germany is in Saxony, where the species can be found scattered and where it reaches the ridges of the Osterzgebirge .
literature
- Jan-Peter Frahm , Wolfgang Frey : Moosflora (= UTB . 1250). 4th, revised and expanded edition. Ulmer, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8252-1250-5 .
