Spring moss
Spring moss | ||||||||||||
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Spring moss ( Fontinalis antipyretica ) |
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Systematics | ||||||||||||
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Scientific name | ||||||||||||
Fontinalis antipyretica | ||||||||||||
Hedw. |
The common spring moss ( Fontinalis antipyretica ) is one of the deciduous mosses that live under water . The spring moss usually grows in slow flowing, less often in stagnant water. It is mostly found in clean, nutrient-poor (oligotrophic) streams and larger lakes and was previously used as a medicinal plant (Fons = spring, antipyretica = against fever). Today, however, it is used at best for decoration and as an oxygen supplier in aquariums and garden ponds . It can be found in a water depth of up to 18 meters. The species is very widespread in the northern hemisphere.
features
The common spring moss is a variable and diverse species that forms small stems that can be up to 30 cm long in their entirety and are leafed in 3 rows. Under water it forms dark green floodplain lawns. The ribless leaves with entire margins are lanceolate, sharply keeled and folded once. Sometimes it can also be a little serrated at the tip of the leaf. The corners of the leaves have enlarged, prosenchymatous cells.
The sporophyte forms oval capsules, the capsule stem (the seta ) of which is very short. Each capsule forms a double-row peristome , the teeth of which are colored red.
Varieties
In fast-flowing streams in the Alps, a slimmer variety called Fontinalis antipyretica var. Gracilis (Lindb.) Schimp. described, which is of the habitus significantly smaller. The stems are bare and rigid at the bottom.
The variety Fontinalis antipyretica var. Gigantea (Sull.) Sull. is a strong, golden brown moss with very broad leaves. It occurs in standing waters in Europe, North Africa and North America.
literature
- Jan-Peter Frahm , Wolfgang Frey : Moosflora (= UTB . 1250). 4th, revised and expanded edition. Ulmer, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8252-1250-5 .