Mosses and the men who love them - Part VI

[timebomb]

Hi, folks,

It's been a while

Fabrizio sent 3 mosses which he collected from Italy. The professor examined them and these are his findings:


Fabrizio found this moss growing emersed along the walls of a drain in an industrial plant close to Milano (north of Italy). He speculates that it could be a species of Vesicularia. Fabrizio knows Vesicularia's are found only in tropical countries so he suspects this could be a moss which escaped from a hobbyist's tank Guess what, Fab? You could be right. The professor isn't sure but he's quite certain the moss is a Vesicularia. He couldn't determine the species though. The professor is puzzled why the moss can survive below-freezing conditons but he suspects it could have something to do with the fact that it's growing close to an industrial plant. Do you think so, Fab? Only you would know

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Fabrizio found this moss growing emersed in a drain close to his mother’s house and also growing submersed in a small river in Sicily (south of Italy). The professor said it's Leptodictyon riparium, commonly known in Singapore as Stringy Moss. The professor emphasised that the L. riparium is highly variable in nature. It can come in many shapes and forms. It's so variable, in fact, that many bryologists have been known to develop severe headaches when trying to identify this plant

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Fabrizio thinks this is Amblystegium varium. According to some literature, Fab says, this moss is either the same as Leptodictyon riparium or considered a subform of it. You're close, Fab but not close enough . The professor said it's also Leptodictyon riparium, the same species of moss as the second one in this thread. Contrary to what you thought, the A. varium and L. riparium are 2 distinct species of mosses. The former has a costa (mid-vein) running through the length of its leaf. The latter has a costa too but it runs only half the length of the leaf. That's what the professor said and I can vouch for that. I saw the costa of your moss through his microscope and it runs only halfway, exactly as depicted in the diagram in his moss book.

It's a lovely moss though and Fabrizio also sent this picture of it growing emersed:


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Okay, that's all for mosses from Italy. Now I would like to talk about the moss which Tan SW (aka aquaturbo in this forum) calls Peacock Moss. He first showed us the moss in this thread.
Tan SW later showed us more pictures of this moss together with Spiky Moss. He knows they are both Taxiphyllums but he thinks they are of different species. For a while, I thought so too. You can see the comparison pictures in this thread.

To make it easier for you all, I will put the pictures of the Peacock and Spiky Moss here:

Peacock:


Spiky:


As you can see, they are lovely mosses. But are they different? When I first looked at Tan SW's microscope pictures, I thought they were. But on closer examination, however, I think they are the same. Tan's microscope pictures are pretty good but when the professor saw them, he said they aren't good enough. The cell structures in the pictures aren't clear. The professor needs to see them in greater detail. Also, the closed-up picture of the leaf basal corner which is an important character in the species identification isn't available.

Despite the absence of good photographs or a live specimen however, the professor thinks the Peacock and the Spiky are the same moss. We don't know where the moss originates from but if it's from China, the professor believes it could be Taxiphyllum giraldii, a moss that is common there. The professor is considering asking his colleagues in China to send over specimens of the T. giraldii to make comparisons but he isn't sure if he has the time to do it.

We may never know for sure but there's something important I have to tell Tan SW. In his last email to me, the professor said the common name Peacock Moss shouldn't be used. This is because there's already another moss with such a common name. Although common names are not registered anywhere and there's no authority on such names, using the same common name for 2 different mosses would only cause confusion later. I hope you understand this, Tan. Please don't take it badly. I myself have been guilty on at least 2 occasions of giving common names to various mosses but in both instances, I was fortunate that the common names weren't already taken. If you like to know, the Peacock name is used on a moss known as Hypopterygium tenellum. Here's a pic of that moss:


That's all for now, folks. It's a long post. Thanks for staying with me.

Loh K L

<<-- Part V .... Part VII -->>

[Green Baron]

Kwek Leong,
Thanks for the update. After taking another look at Tan's Peacock Moss, it does look like the moss which I bought from Shanghai, which also looks like the 'Spiky Moss' in Colourful Aquarium beside Nature Aquarium (NA).

BTW, I brought back another moss from Shanghai. It is a Vesicularia. I Drop me a note the next time you visit the Prof and I will bring it along for ID.

I was told by lfs there that most of the aquatic plants in China comes from Guangzhou.

[Green Baron]

Kwek Leong,
This should be the six installament of the "Mosses and the men who love them " series. I will update the title of the post

[timebomb]

This should be the six installament of the "Mosses and the men who love them " series.

Thanks for making the correction, Gan. I lost count

The professor showed me his new moss book when I was in his lab. The book is solely on bryophytes found in China. If your Vesicularia is from there, chances are quite good the professor will be able to identify it.

I took a peek at some of the pages in the book and I saw many species of Taxiphyllums described, most of which are unfamiliar to us. As the hobby grows in China, I'm sure we will see many more varieties of mosses.

This fascination we have for mosses - It's going to be one never-ending story

Loh K L