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Tyson Pankow
Instructor: Mr. Tanner
Class: Plant Biology Lab
19 November 2014
Moss
Moss is a type of plant that everyone has seen and knows of, but doesnt have a lot of
knowledge of. The most common perception of moss is either the emerald green carpets native
to the Pacific Northwest, or the ornamental mosses popularized by Japanese bonsai culture.
Through this paper, I hope to show you that moss is much more diverse and biologically
important that some pottery decorations.
Something about moss that many people do not know is that there are several different
types of moss. The green covering that we see in the mountains may not be the same plant as the
one floating above the water in a swamp, but rather the same type of plant. So what is a moss
exactly?
Mosses are generally small, green, flowerless, and non-woody plants that form clumps or
mats. Most of these plants are extremely simple, they lack the parts one would expect in any
other plant. Components like vascular tissues are not present, meaning there is no xylem or
phloem. Also differing from vascular plants is that, while most vascular plants are many cells
thick, moss cells are in one plane and are only one cell thick. Another common trend in mosses
is that they dont produce seeds. Each individual moss plant is typically one to ten centimeters,
either in height or width, depending on the moss.
Mosses spend most of their time in the haploid gametophyte phase of their lifecycle, meaning
they have only one set of chromosomes. This is starkly different from most other plants, which

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spend the majority of their lifecycles in the diploid sporophyte phase, or with both sets of
chromosomes in their vegetative cells. This being said, the reproductive system of mosses is one
that is unique to bryophytes (bryophytes being a colloquial term that also includes lichens,
hornworts, and liverworts.) As mentioned earlier, mosses are non-flowering plants, but they do
produce spores. Spores are similar to seeds in that they are small containers carrying genetic
information that can travel great distances to generate more plants, but they differ in that spores
are incredibly resilient and can grow in or on almost any reasonably stable surface, including
concrete and rocks. Mosses have to rely on the wind to help disperse the spores, although some
have developed amazing mechanisms that have greatly increased the distance the spores can
travel.
The next phase in the lifecycle of a moss is when the spore lands on a suitable surface
and develops into a protonema. Protonema create small hair-like fibers that, together, combine
into a fine carpet of plant matter that serves as a basis for the rest of the moss colony. Once
protonema have developed to this stage, they start to grow gametophores. These gametophores
are what makes up the main mass of any clump of moss. Gametophores can be either stems or
leaves, and multiple gametophores can be produced from the same protonema. The more
gametophores come out of each fiber, the thicker the clump of moss.
Sex organs are developed by gametophores at the very tips of their branches. Both the
male and female sex organs are surrounded and protected by modified leaves. In the case of the
male, these modified leaves are called perigonium, and they completely enclose the stock-like
sex organ, called antheridium. In the case of the female, the modified leaves are called
perichaeta, and although the surround the sex organ, it is not completely enclosed. The female

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sex organ itself is teardrop shaped with a long neck and a small opening for the sperm to enter
and fertilize the egg cell in the center.
Mosses, like other plants, come in two varieties: monoicous and dioicous. In monoicous
mosses, one gametophyte produces male and female sex organs. This differs from dioicous
mosses, in which the gametophyte produce either a male or female sex organ, but not both. This
changes the ease of fertilization, but also changes the distance at which fertilization can occur.
For example, in a monoicous moss, all that is required for fertilization to occur is the presence of
water to allow the sperm to swim to the archegonia. The counter example: in dioicous mosses,
special splash cups propel the sperm to allow it to land on a separate female moss and fertilize
it.
In the final phase of the reproductive cycle, the sporophyte pushes its way out of the
female sex organ, and after roughly three to six months it is a fully mature, stalk-like capsule,
which eventually, through the process of meiosis, produces haploid spores and the cycle can
begin again.
Fully understanding the life cycle of moss has allowed humans to use and cultivate it for
generations. Some of its most common practical uses in the past have been carrying large
volumes of liquid (as it can hold 20 times its own weight in water), and insulation. Some Native
American tribes have even reportedly used local mosses to produce napkins and diapers. Most
of these things are now considered antiquated uses of moss. The most common uses of moss in
todays society are for ornamental use. There is also a promising future for moss being used in
certain types of laboratory-grade bioreactors.
Moss, with its vibrant green colors and variety of diverse textures, can be a beautiful
addition to landscaping due to its high propensity for thriving in areas with low sunlight. In the

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Pacific Northwest, moss is sometimes used as an alternative to grass as a ground cover or lawn.
Requiring little to no mowing or fertilizing, it becomes more popular every year. Another
common ornamental use for moss, which is more practical for indoor decoration, is the inclusion
of moss in the Bonsai art form, which can give an impression of age to a Bonsai scene.
One recent industrial application of moss is the use of a bioreactor to isolate potentially
beneficial protein structures, called recombinant proteins that are capable of repairing double
strand DNA breaks. This technology is still in its infancy, but has great potential for cancer,
research, genetic testing, and other medicinal uses.
For all of the beneficial uses of moss, there is a possibility that there was once a time that
moss threatened the very existence of life on earth. As dramatic as this may seem, the theory has
some validity. There has recently been some compelling evidence that moss may have played a
major role in how and why ice ages have occurred on our planet. The theory says that through
the absorption of carbon dioxide and the excretion of organic acids, they changed the
environment around them and caused a cascading chain reaction that resulted in massive loss of
oxygen in the atmosphere resulting in the die-off of large amounts of biological life. This
allowed CO2 levels to drop, with the end result being the formation of the polar ice caps.
There are many unusual facts and misconceptions about moss. One strange fact about
moss is that, in the northern latitudes, it typically grows on the north side of any given tree. It
just so happens that this side is usually more damp and shady, which promotes better moss
growth. This isnt true for all latitudes, but the idea is so commonly repeated because there is a
certain amount of truth to it in North America. Another commonly unknown and interesting fact
about moss is that their sperm cells are biflagellate. This means that the sperm cells have two
tails used for movement as opposed to the common thought of sperm cells, as in humans, which

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only have one. Another interesting fact is that peat moss bogs create such a nutrient poor, acidic
environment that bacteria doesnt survive well. This has lead to well-preserved human remains,
even dating back to 1,000 years old found in Europe. Yet another fact is that mosses dont grow
solely in swamps or rainforests, but have been found it all terrestrial habitats; even some fully
aquatic species exist.
As mentioned previously, mosses, lichens, hornworts, and liverworts are all referred to as
bryophytes, however, they have all been classified differently, and the only plants currently in
the division Bryophyta are true mosses. This is not to say that Bryophyta is a small class,
however, as there are still over 12,000 species of bryophytes that have been discovered in the
world with more being discovered all the time. It may be this reclassification of lichens,
hornworts and liverworts that contributes to the common misconception that they are true mosses.
It should be noted, though, that because of their structural differences, lichens, hornworts, and
liverworts, no matter how much they may physically look similar to moss, are not true mosses.
Mosses are an incredibly diverse, important, and unique set of plants. They showcase a
distinctive reproductive system, and although having a relatively simple structure, have
potentially broad reaching and disastrous effects on the ecology of the environment. They make
for beautiful indoor and outdoor decorations, but they are not just a pretty face in the world of
plant biology. With more research, they could contribute to saving the lives of millions of
people around the globe.

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Works Cited
Lepp, Heino. "Sphagnum and Water." The Plant Underworld. 1 Apr. 2012. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.
<https://www.anbg.gov.au/cryptogams/underworld/panel-10/index.html>.
Various authors. "Moss." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Nov. 2014. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moss>.