Structure and classification of mosses. The variety of mosses: "kukushkin flax", moss "phoenix"

The first people on the land that grow today are mosses. Biology has a separate direction for studying this group - bryology. Scientists suggest that life originated in the water. Over time, algae acquired signs that helped them survive in drought conditions. Further evolution led to the emergence of spore-based terrestrial plants.

Characteristic features of the structure

Bryophytes are higher plants. They have the first plant tissues - groups of specialized cells. This is the main and photosynthetic tissue. Since the conductive and mechanical tissues are absent, the body of the mosses is represented by a thallus, like algae. However, it has a leaf-building structure. The function of attachment to the substrate and absorption of water with nutrients is carried out by the rhizoids. From the real roots they are distinguished by the lack of tissues.

Vivid representatives of this group of plants are moss "phoenix", "kukushkin flax", sphagnum, march.

Life cycle

Bryophytes are able to reproduce asexually and sexually. Therefore, in their life cycle, there is a clear alternation of generations - sexual (gametophyte) and asexual (sporophyte).

The mammalian gametophyte is a small stalk with leaves, on which germ cells - gametes develop. During the fertilization process, the eggs are fertilized with spermatozoa. For this, there must be water. That is why mosses always grow on damp soil. As a result, an embryo is formed, which develops in the sexless generation. The sporophyte grows on the gametophyte and is a filiform, dry stem with a box. Inside it there are spores - cells of asexual reproduction. They get enough sleep from the capsule, sprout and re-form a leafy growth gametophyte. It is not difficult to guess that the sexual generation predominates in the life cycle of mosses . Because everyone is used to what looks like a green soft carpet.

Classes of mosses

Classification of mosses is based on the difference in the anatomical and morphological features of the structure of these organisms.

Green mosses are unique plants. So, the moss "kukushkin flax" is able to absorb water 4 times its own size. Their color is greenish-brown, mostly perennial plants. They very quickly expand, covering with a solid green carpet any surfaces - soil, asphalt, roofs. The only condition is the constant presence of moisture. Because without water these organisms can not reproduce.

Some of them, for example, moss "phoenix", are able to live in water. This beautiful plant got its name because of the similarity with the tail of the famous mythological bird Phoenix. He is absolutely unpretentious, surviving even in hard water with any intensity of lighting. Since it is imported from America, the optimal water temperature is also not critical and ranges from 18 to 30 degrees. Moss "phoenix" looks like a beautiful green fountain, "pouring" from decorative snags of the aquarium.

White or peat mosses are most often found in swamps. The representative of this group of mosses is sphagnum. It has a characteristic structure of leaves, which consist of two kinds of cells. The former have a typical structure and contain green plastids of chloroplasts, which carry out photosynthesis. The second is larger, dead, transparent. They are located between the chlorophyll-bearing cells. They are important for the plant. Absorbing a large amount of water, they are able to hold it in their cavities for a long time, if necessary, giving them to living cells. Where the sphagnum settles, the soil quickly begins to swamp.

The value of moss

Green mosses, along with other groups of moss-like, are powerful accumulators of moisture. Their appearance serves as a serious signal of the beginning of water logging. On the one hand, this process significantly reduces the area of free arable land. On the other hand, it serves as a condition for the formation of peat. This valuable mineral is used as fuel, fertilizer, raw material for the chemical industry. Many representatives of this group of plants have a very attractive aesthetic appearance. So, the moss "phoenix" is used for the design of aquariums. Mosses can excrete special substances - acids. They can destroy hard rock, contributing to soil formation.