Mosses and the men who love them - Part IX

[timebomb]

Hi, folks,

This is the 9th time I'm posting a "Mosses and the men who love them" thread. I have to confess that with my other 8 posts, I've not been very thorough. I rarely showed the microscope pictures and hardly did I ever mention the characteristics of the various species. In recent months, I've discovered that many moss lovers are not content with just growing the bryophytes; they are also serious about the science behind the hobby.

More by accident than design, I've become the professor's mouthpiece so I feel it is my duty to spread what I've learnt from him to these hobbyists. This post therefore, will be in greater detail than the previous ones and I'll also be showing many microscope pictures to let you all know how the professor goes about identifying mosses. Please take note though that my memory is not what it used to be so I could very well be wrong on some points. I understand too that not everyone is interested in the science so I'll begin this post by summarising it into a few subject headings. It's one helluva long post so please feel free to skip the paragraphs that you find boring.

1. The moss that Kenny found in Manitoba, Canada.
2. The moss (sold in Nature Aquarium) that looks like a doormat.
3. A new aquarium moss at Bioplast - Anchor Moss
4. The confusion between Spiky and Peacock Moss
5. A new Taxiphyllum
6. Drepanocladus aduncus
7. Cement Moss
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1. Kenny, a Singaporean studying in Canada found a moss in a pond in Manitoba. Here's a picture of the moss:

The professor examined Kenny's Moss and he said it's Leptodictyum riparium aka Stringy Moss. Kenny thought it couldn't be L. riparium as this name does not appear on the list of local flora compiled by a botanist in his university in Manitoba. What Kenny didn't know was L. riparium was formerly known as Amblystegium riparium. It was only in recent years that the bryologists decided that A. riparium should be re-classified into a different group called L. riparium. The main difference between the Amblystegium's and the Leptodictyum's is that the latter has much larger leaves. Here's a microscope picture of Kenny's Moss which clearly shows the mid-costa, a distinct characteristic of L. riparium.:


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2. Nature Aquarium, a fish shop in Singapore sells a moss which forms a dense mat when it's grown on driftwoods. If you ask me, I would say "Doormat Moss" would be an appropriate name. The moss sells for fairly high prices. A small piece of driftwood with the moss growing on it is often sold for Sing $20 a piece. And that’s considered cheap, mind you. Here's a picture:


The professor said it's Fissidens splachnobryoides, a moss that can be easily found growing on soil in many garden pots. The professor was surprised that such a common moss can be sold for high prices but that's the way the market is, I guess. We moss lovers are suckers Here's a picture of the F. splachnobryoides through the lens of a microscope:

The leaves are of the same arrangement as other species of Fissidens. Here's a picture I lifted from the professor's moss book. It shows the leaf arrangement of another Fissidens:


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3. Bioplast fish shop has a new moss. It is of a much lighter shade of green than most of the other aquarium mosses we know. The moss does not have a common name yet but Bioplast thinks an appropriate name would be "Anchor Moss". On some fronds, the branches are almost at right angles to the stem. If you look at just the tips, it's somewhat similar in appearance to a ship's anchor. Here's a close-up:


Compare that to a ship's anchor:


Well, it may not look quite the same but I would say "Anchor Moss" is just as good a name as any other Grown on driftwoods, the moss stays closely knitted in a bunch. The professor said it’s a Vesicularia. Here's a picture of the Anchor Moss:

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4. Dennis aka Mr Moss sent 4 samples of mosses, 2 of which are Spiky Moss and the so-called Peacock Moss. I'll just talk about the confusion between these 2 mosses first - are they the same or are they different mosses?

The professor examined the 2 mosses and confirmed they belonged to the Taxiphyllum genus. On both mosses, the leaves exhibit short double-costas and long narrow cells. To determine species, the shape of the leaves is also taken into account. The professor, on examining the Peacock Moss initially suspected that it could be different from Spiky Moss as the leaf he saw under his microscope was far thicker and rounder at the tip. On further examination however, the professor discovered that, similar to Singapore Moss (Vesicularia dubyana), the leaves of the Spiky Moss and the so-called Peacock Moss are highly variable. In other words, the shapes of the leaves could be either narrow and long or broad and round. It depends a lot on the branch where the leaves were taken from. Here are 2 pictures. The one on top shows 3 leaves of the Spiky Moss, 2 of which are distinctly different in shape. The 2nd picture shows 2 leaves of the so-called Peacock Moss and their shapes are also distinctly different.



On examining all other characteristics of both mosses, the professor is of the opinion that the Spiky and Peacock mosses that Dennis sent are one and the same species. I don’t know if this will put an end to the confusion but I hope this will be the last nail in the coffin for the Peacock name
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5. Dennis also sent a moss that he got from a hobbyist living in Japan. He thinks it’s some kind of Stringy Moss. Here’s a picture:

It may look stringy but it isn't Stringy Moss. The professor said it’s a Taxiphyllum. How does the professor know it is so? One, the moss has a short double-costa in its leaves. Two, the cells are long and narrow, another characteristic of a Taxiphyllum.. Here's a picture of a leaf of the moss:

The double-costa isn't very clear in the picture but if you look closely, they are the 2 short darker lines just above the scale (between 30 and 50). Compare this leaf to the leaf of Taxiphyllum barbieri (Java Moss) and it's obvious why the professor knows it is so:


The professor said there are 5 known species of Taxiphyllum's in Japan. The Taxiphyllum that Dennis sent could be among one of the five.
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6. Dennis also sent a moss which he describes as the emersed form of Stringy Moss. Here's a picture:

Wrong again, Dennis . The professor said it's Drepanocladus aduncus, one of the few mosses that is truly aquatic. D. aduncus can be easily identified by it's extremely large basal alar cells. "Basal alar cells" in layman terms, means "the cells at the base and at the corners of the leaf". Here's a picture of the leaf:

Here's a drawing of the basal alar cells I lifted from the professor's moss book:

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7. Bioplast has a moss which is very beautiful. It's highly sought after by many hobbyists but unfortunately, Bioplast has not managed to grow enough of it to put them up for sale. I've shown you all this moss once but since it's so lovely, I will show you some new pictures. Here they are:



The professor examined the moss and he said it's Hyophila involuta, a moss that can often be found growing on cement walls. The professor also said it is not an aquatic moss and that is probably the reason Bioplast never had great success with it. With most mosses, urban development spells doom but this moss thrives on construction. The more walls are built, the more they are spread around. It's a moss that likes high alkalinity, you see. So if you're one of those die-hard moss lovers who aren’t daunted by the fact that this isn't an aquatic moss, raise the Ph of your water if you want them to flourish in your tank. Gan CW, the professor and I are of the opinion that a suitable common name for H. involuta would be "Cement Moss". It's a down-to-earth name for an extremely lovely moss but nevertheless, very appropriate.

One distinct characteristic of H. involuta is that their leaves are teethed. In other words, it's jagged at the edges. Here's a picture of a leaf:


Compare it with this picture which I took from the professor's book:


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In closing, I would like to say that by revealing the facts about the various aquarium mosses in our hobby, I might also have killed the market for the fish shop owners. I don't like doing this as I'm a hobbyist who is in favour of promoting the business for the fish shop owners. But there's little doubt in my mind that my first priority is to share the facts with my fellow-hobbyists from around the world. Before writing this post, I asked Wright Huntley, our Chief Bloviator for advice and he said,

"Good markets are characterized by free flow of information. You will do both the hobby and the stores a favor by publishing the real situation. The storekeepers may resent it, short term, but on the long haul they are not in business to rip off the public. The good ones will appreciate knowing the facts and will adjust accordingly"

I trust that our fish shop owners understand this.

Loh K L

<<-- Part VIII......Part X-->>

[RRG]

Outstanding article, KL! Thank you and the Professor for giving more information about the mosses. Are the “Cement Moss” and “Doormat Moss” found in just certain countries or around the world? If it is found anywhere, then I better look closely on cement walls and moss growing in flower pots .

[stormhawk]

Cement Moss? That in my opinion is an apt name, provided it was grown in a terrestrial environment. It is a beautiful moss nonetheless. I reckon I've seen the doormat moss before at NA, but perhaps it might have been something else that I saw back then. Have not visited NA for more than a year I think.

KL, you have my kudos. 9th thread on mosses alone and wow, I am simply blown away. You are truly the undisputed Moss Man.

[timebomb]

Randall, the professor said the "Doormat Moss" and "Cement Moss" are common to Singapore which would mean they are tropical mosses. But then again, there's no harm in checking out the flower pots and walls around your neighbourhood. You never know what you may find

Jianyang, the Cement Moss is a terrestrial moss. Gan CW said he saw lots of this moss growing on the walls of his condominium. He promised to show a picture.

Loh K L

[t4.]

Great post! All of the microscopic and textbook images are very interesting. Thanks for including them.

It's too bad that the "Cement Moss" isn't a true aquatic; it's certainly very nice looking. I noticed a large patch of moss growing on the pavement this morning when taking out the garbage and grabbed a small portion of it to try to grow immersed. It may not do well in the long run but at least I might wind up with a beautiful moss for a short period of time.

The compact, bright green growth of the "Anchor Moss" is appealing, too.

Thanks again, KL!

-Chris

[fish newb]

Nice job on the article. I'm happy to say that most of the mosses that i collected a month+ ago are doing great mostly, and hopefully i can send some moss to you sooner or later. The pictures of the moss book are cool too. Do you know where Dr. Tan got them? I might be interested in a book or two on Briology as long as it is in english and that book looked english, so where could you get it? OR has Dr. Tan suggested any books? If not could you ask what he would recomend for someone who is in RI, USA?

I personally am up to about 15+ mosses, half of them dry trying to see if they can grow the aquaria. It is quite the task.

Hadn't been on here in a while so i got here, and a nice article waiting. Thanks!

- Andrew

[timebomb]

Andrew,

The moss books the professor has are usually hard-cover books written by bryologists for bryologists. They are not meant for the laymen and frankly, I don't think they will be of much help to you, unless of course, you are planning on becoming a bryologist yourself.

The literature alone won't help you tell one moss from another because besides a high-powered microscope, you also need the education before the books can be of any use to you. If you have a keen interest in bryophytes however, I would suggest that you take up "botany" when you go to university.

As for the mosses you found, if you're sure they can take to life underwater, feel free to send samples to me. It shouldn't cost a lot to send moss from one country to another but to help you offset your postage costs, I'll be happy to send you mosses in return. What would you like? I can give you either Taiwan, Spiky, Singapore or Weeping Moss. Let me know which you prefer.

Loh K L

[imported_kenny]

Hi Mr. Loh,

Thank you and Dr. Tan for all the documentation and beautiful pictures !
So many new mosses really got me drooling
Seeing this thread after a long MIA (missing in action) is really thrilling and stimulating all over again.

By the way, delivering accurate information will benefit the hobbyists and the shops who truly care about the plants. Only evil businesses who care only about ripping us off our $$ will hate you, but who cares about them ?

Thanks again for a great job well done,
Kenny

[fish newb]

Andrew,

The moss books the professor has are usually hard-cover books written by bryologists for bryologists. They are not meant for the laymen and frankly, I don't think they will be of much help to you, unless of course, you are planning on becoming a bryologist yourself.

The literature alone won't help you tell one moss from another because besides a high-powered microscope, you also need the education before the books can be of any use to you. If you have a keen interest in bryophytes however, I would suggest that you take up "botany" when you go to university.

As for the mosses you found, if you're sure they can take to life underwater, feel free to send samples to me. It shouldn't cost a lot to send moss from one country to another but to help you offset your postage costs, I'll be happy to send you mosses in return. What would you like? I can give you either Taiwan, Spiky, Singapore or Weeping Moss. Let me know which you prefer.

Loh K L

I see, I see. I personally figured that outcome on the books, those pictures of the moss doesn't look like it needs TOO high a powe microscope, what is the magnification on that? I probably will take a few courses on "botany" when i go to collage AKA university.

As for the shipping. Is'nt Monsoon (spelled it wrong i bet ) season coming? would that effect shipping at all? I have been planning on shipping moss all along more or less. when i do ship the moss i would be interested in the Spiky moss since that is near impossible to get in the USA.

Would you PM me shipping details? I really want to ship moss over to you, so i can get some posative IDs.

I was thinking since there are no guides to aquatic bryology in NE (new england) I should probably look into writing something myself. I wonder if you told the prof. that a person online who is very interested in bryology wanted to know what he would suggest reading material wise for a High School Student, I'm 14 but I understand more than the average 14 year old lol, so I'm not too worried about having a hard time with words, so if he could suggest a book it would be very interesting to read, maybe there are bryology books that you get when you first are a student in University, I don't know, but asking cant hurt!

I'm going off topic so i should stop LOL.

Let me thank you again for making these posts,

- Andrew -

[timebomb]

As for the shipping. Is'nt Monsoon (spelled it wrong i bet ) season coming? would that effect shipping at all? I have been planning on shipping moss all along more or less. when i do ship the moss i would be interested in the Spiky moss since that is near impossible to get in the USA.

Nope, you spelled it correctly but monsoon season which usually comes to Singapore around November/December will not affect shipping. I think you have been misled by the word "ship", Andrew. When we say "ship" we actually mean "send" as in 'I can send a letter to you. It will come in an envelope and it will reach you in about a week because it's transported by a plane and not a ship". Just substitute the word "letter" for "moss". It works exactly the same way, except that the envelope is slighter larger than normal and it is padded. Let me have your mailing address through private message and I'll send the Spiky Moss over to you. When you get the envelope, you will better understand how it works.

It's good that you have a passion for bryology. When I was your age, I didn't have a passion for anything. Or maybe I had a passion for girls as they were the only things I had on my mind then

The next time I see the professor, I'll ask him if he has any good books to recommend for someone your age.

Loh K L

[Luciano]

Hi, folks,


3. Bioplast fish shop has a new moss. It is of a much lighter shade of green than most of the other aquarium mosses we know. The moss does not have a common name yet but Bioplast thinks an appropriate name would be "Anchor Moss". On some fronds, the branches are almost at right angles to the stem. If you look at just the tips, it's somewhat similar in appearance to a ship's anchor. Here's a close-up:


Compare that to a ship's anchor:


Well, it may not look quite the same but I would say "Anchor Moss" is just as good a name as any other Grown on driftwoods, the moss stays closely knitted in a bunch. The professor said it’s a Vesicularia. Here's a picture of the Anchor Moss:

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Loh K L

Hi, Loh K.... hi folk...

My england very little!!!

The Anchor Moss ", like from you called, is visually similar to a moss collected in Italy.
It had been sent from Fabry to you from various time, the same university professor had described like vesicular spp... but it had not gone beyond.

The Moss, comes wide used in Italy, can here see also a simple my article ( http://www.aquagarden.it/2005/muschi.html ) end my tank http://www.acquariofacile.it/forum/t...91&whichpage=2 .

It would be beautiful to know if draft of the same one moss...
If Fabry us law, would have also to remember where it was the old one link of Loh K L http://www.killies.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2612. , where the analyses of the professor were described, to have one better comparison

Regard
Luciano.

[fish newb]

As for the shipping. Is'nt Monsoon (spelled it wrong i bet ) season coming? would that effect shipping at all? I have been planning on shipping moss all along more or less. when i do ship the moss i would be interested in the Spiky moss since that is near impossible to get in the USA.

Nope, you spelled it correctly but monsoon season which usually comes to Singapore around November/December will not affect shipping. I think you have been misled by the word "ship", Andrew. When we say "ship" we actually mean "send" as in 'I can send a letter to you. It will come in an envelope and it will reach you in about a week because it's transported by a plane and not a ship". Just substitute the word "letter" for "moss". It works exactly the same way, except that the envelope is slighter larger than normal and it is padded. Let me have your mailing address through private message and I'll send the Spiky Moss over to you. When you get the envelope, you will better understand how it works.

It's good that you have a passion for bryology. When I was your age, I didn't have a passion for anything. Or maybe I had a passion for girls as they were the only things I had on my mind then

The next time I see the professor, I'll ask him if he has any good books to recommend for someone your age.

Loh K L

Heh, i personally knew they fly it but i wasnt sure if the planes would be effected or anything, they must just blow up monsoon season in the US.I will send moss either this tuesday or next monday. I'll pm you about adresses and stuff, I'm going to wait a week or two to see if anyone else wants to piggyback with me on this, since it's not every day you send moss to the other side of our plannet.!

lol, I'm just wierd. No one else i know is very excited when they get a package from another part of the country that has plants in it lol. I'm just special like that, in my own way i bet lol. i doubt there is much that could be recomended for my age, but anything high school level would be fine, maybe freshman collage level as well not too sure on that one though.

I will pm you in a few minuets,

- Andrew -

[timebomb]

My england very little!!!

Well, your English may be little but it's definitely a lot more than my Italian It's okay, Luciano. We understand that English isn't your first language and we appreciate it very much that you made the effort to communicate with us.

The Anchor Moss ", like from you called, is visually similar to a moss collected in Italy.

It may look similar and could possibly be the same as the Vesicularia that Fabrizio sent but pictures can be deceiving. In any case, many of the Vesicularia's we know look very much like one another.

I can't remember what I did with the sample that Fabrizio sent. It could be in one of my tanks or I could have given the sample to the professor.
Bioplast said they got the "Anchor Moss" from a source in Japan. It would be great if we can compare it with the Vesicularia from Fabrizio but from what I've learnt, even examining both samples at the same time may not be a conclusive way to find out if the mosses are the same or different. The country of origin is still an important factor and unfortunately, we just aren't sure where the Anchor Moss comes from.

Loh K L

[timebomb]

I'll pm you about adresses and stuff, I'm going to wait a week or two to see if anyone else wants to piggyback with me on this, since it's not every day you send moss to the other side of our plannet.!

Andrew,

I got your pm. I will send the Spiky Moss to you on Monday morning. I would strongly suggest that you wait for my moss to reach you before you send yours to me. This is because I'm also sending you some plastic bags. They will come in the envelope together with the Spiky Moss. Plastic bags are a dime a dozen and could be found anywhere but those I'm giving you are of a high quality. The plastic is thicker and seals easily.

You don't have to let others piggyback on you. Just send the mosses that you found and let the others send theirs to me directly. When you send your mosses, remember to label the plastic bags. You can call them Moss 1, Moss 2 and so on. It's very important you tell me where you found the mosses. Please indicate the locations on the labels. You don't have to send a big bunch of each but having said that, please do not send just a tiny frond. In the past, hobbyists have sent mosses to me where the sample is hardly anything more than just a tiny leaf. With such small samples, it's very difficult for the professor to be sure he's looking at a good specimen of the moss.

Satu did a fine job with the packing and labelling when she sent 7 bryophytes to me a few months ago. She even included a note in the envelope describing how she came into possession of each moss. I would recommend that you take a look at this post again to find out the best way to send your mosses to me.

Loh K L

[fish newb]

ok i'll wait for the bags. I usually use the heavey duty freezer bagies, It will be interesting to see how heavy these bags are since I'm still in search of the perfect bag.

1 quesiton. one of my mosses died, it was an unusuall looking specimen, would the professor be able to ID it even though it isnt alive, or doesnt seem alive? this is the case for two of the ones i had collected, but i would love to know what they where still,

I can't wait to recieve the Spiky moss. And to send you my mosses!

- Andrew

[Luciano]

Well, your English may be little but it's definitely a lot more than my Italian It's okay, Luciano. We understand that English isn't your first language and we appreciate it very much that you made the effort to communicate with us. Loh K L

It may look similar and could possibly be the same as the Vesicularia that Fabrizio sent but pictures can be deceiving. In any case, many of the Vesicularia's we know look very much like one another.
I can't remember what I did with the sample that Fabrizio sent. It could be in one of my tanks or I could have given the sample to the professor.
Bioplast said they got the "Anchor Moss" from a source in Japan. It would be great if we can compare it with the Vesicularia from Fabrizio but from what I've learnt, even examining both samples at the same time may not be a conclusive way to find out if the mosses are the same or different. The country of origin is still an important factor and unfortunately, we just aren't sure where the Anchor Moss comes from.

Loh K L

Hello, Loh K L

We can ask Fabry, to still send to you to a small champion of moss Italy (that harvest here from we) for being able to still confront it with Moss, always if you want you/can...

Moss the Italy, is various years that come cultivated with happening from many lovers of the moss, and could have made the turn of the world thanks they... The fact remains that if we can confront it in precise way, would be one good thing...

However, the pleasure to have diffuse a moss of Italian origin, e` however a great pleasure.

Salutes

Luciano

[timebomb]

Luciano sent me 2 pictures of the moss in his tank. I think he believes it's the same as Anchor Moss. Here are his pics:




Loh K L

[timebomb]

1 quesiton. one of my mosses died, it was an unusuall looking specimen, would the professor be able to ID it even though it isnt alive, or doesnt seem alive? this is the case for two of the ones i had collected, but i would love to know what they where still,

Andrew,

The moss does not have to be alive before the professor can identify it. Even when they are dead, the leaves of a moss retain its shape and the cell structures are still intact. Having said that, however, I would like to point out to you that it does not serve the interest of the moss-lovers community to learn of the identities of mosses that cannot survive under water. As I've said many times, the professor is a busy man so when we ask him for help in identifying mosses, we should only show him the ones that can thrive in our tanks. I can understand your curiousity about the mosses you collected but we have to remember that there are thousands of species of mosses. It wouldn't be fair to the professor and also, it would serve little purpose to the community if we ask him to identify every moss we find.

Loh K L

[Luciano]

Luciano sent me 2 pictures of the moss in his tank. I think he believes it's the same as Anchor Moss.

Loh K L

Hi Loh K L,
Thanks , for to have attacked the photos that I have sent to you.
Luciano

[timebomb]

Luciano,

It's impossible to tell from the pictures alone if yours and the Anchor Moss belong to the same species. Since you have quite a fair bit of it, why don't you send a small sample of your moss to me? This is my mailing address:

Loh Kwek Leong
Block 104 Towner Road
#08-324
Singapore 322104

Loh K L