Characteristics that identify a plant as a moss
May be confused with: Other moss species. Peat moss can be distinguished by its unique branch clusters. The plant color, the shape of the leaves growing around the stems, and the shape of the green cells are characteristics used to identify peat moss to species.Photographs: Closeup of Sphagnum sp. plants. Line Drawings: Sphagnum sp.ndividual peat moss plants consist of a wiry main axis with small clusters of soft, floppy side branches. The top of the plant has compact clusters of young branches. The side branches consist of a series of more-or-less overlapping, cup-shaped, or spear-shaped leaves. Mosses are small flowerless plants that usually grow in dense green clumps or mats, in damp or shady locations. The individual plants are usually composed of simple, one-cell thick leaves, covering a thin stem that supports them but does not conduct water and nutrients (nonvascular).ichens may superficially look like mosses, and have a common names that includes the word moss (e.g.,  reindeer moss  or  iceland moss ), but are not related to mosses. Mosses, hornworts, and liverworts are collectively called  bryophytes . Botanically, mosses are non-vascular plants in the land plant division Bryophyta. They are small (a few centimeters tall) herbaceous (non-woody) plants that absorb water and nutrients mainly through their leaves and harvest carbon dioxide and sunlight to create food by photosynthesis.ichens may superficially look like mosses, and have a common names that includes the word moss (e.g.,  reindeer moss  or  iceland moss ), but are not related to mosses. Mosses, hornworts, and liverworts are collectively called  bryophytes . Photo by: artush. Bryophytes are seedless plants without specialized water-conducting tissues. Bryophytes include mosses (phylum Bryophyta), liverworts (phylum Marchantiophyta Hepatophyta), and hornworts (phylum Anthocerophyta).They are plants that virtually everyone has seen, but many have ignored.econd, bryophytes do not have roots, but have rhizoids, which are relatively simple, sometimes multicellular filaments of thin-walled cells that extend from the photosynthetic tissue into the soil or other substrate. They anchor the plant somewhat and in some cases facilitate water and nutrient uptake. Mosses, as well as liverworts, belong to a plant group called Bryophytes. The Bryophytes are characterized by having no specialized food and water transport tissues. They lack flowers, true leaves, stems, or roots, but they do have analogous structures.ndividual peat moss plants consist of a wiry main axis with small clusters of soft, floppy side branches. The top of the plant has compact clusters of young branches. The side branches consist of a series of more-or-less overlapping, cup-shaped, or spear-shaped leaves. Mosses are in the phylum (division) Bryophyta, which formerly also included hornworts and liverworts. These other two groups of bryophytes are now placed in their own divisions. There are approximately 12,000 species of moss classified in the Bryophyta.ichens may superficially look like mosses, and have a common names that includes the word moss (e.g.,  reindeer moss  or  iceland moss ), but are not related to mosses. Mosses, hornworts, and liverworts are collectively called  bryophytes . Similar to plants, the moss lifecycle is completed in two distinct stages-the gametophyte and the sporophyte. The term that describes this type of life history is called alternation of heteromorphic generations.n vascular plants the dominant stage of this lifecycle is the diploid generation. In mosses, the dominant stage is the haploid generation (the gametophyte). This means that the green, leafy gametophytic tissue is haploid (has only one set of chromosomes). Accumulations of Sphagnum can store water, since both living and dead plants can hold large quantities of water inside their cells; plants may hold 16–26 times as much water as their dry weight, depending on the species. The empty cells help retain water in drier conditions.ence, as sphagnum moss grows, it can slowly spread into drier conditions, forming larger peatlands, both raised bogs and blanket bogs. These peat accumulations then provide habitat for a wide array of peatland plants, including sedges and ericaceous shrubs, as well as orchids and carnivorous plants. They do not have seeds or any vascular tissue. At certain times they produce thin stalks topped with capsules containing spores. They are typically 1–10 cm (0.4–3.9 in) tall, though some species are much larger, like Dawsonia, the tallest moss in the world, which can grow to 50 cm (20 in) in height.ichens may superficially look like mosses, and have a common names that includes the word moss (e.g.,  reindeer moss  or  iceland moss ), but are not related to mosses. Mosses, hornworts, and liverworts are collectively called  bryophytes . Lichens may superficially look like mosses, and have a common names that includes the word moss (e.g.,  reindeer moss  or  iceland moss ), but are not related to mosses. Mosses, hornworts, and liverworts are collectively called  bryophytes .ichens may superficially look like mosses, and have a common names that includes the word moss (e.g.,  reindeer moss  or  iceland moss ), but are not related to mosses. Mosses, hornworts, and liverworts are collectively called  bryophytes .
mosses are non-vascular plants in the land plant division Bryophyta. They are small (a few centimeters tall) herbaceous (non-woody) plants that absorb water and nutrients mainly through their leaves and harvest carbon dioxide and sunlight to create food by photosynthesis.ichens may superficially look like mosses, and have a common names that includes the word moss (e.g., reindeer moss or iceland moss ), but are not related to mosses.