April 13 2021 

Classified on their own as the division Bryophyta, there are approximately 12,000 species of moss. Today, I'm observing the moss that has grown on the shed roof for decades. Going to watch the spore pods open, save spores and grow in flats. This moss forms dense green clumps or mats, often in damp or shady locations. The individual plants are usually composed of simple leaves that are generally only one cell thick, attached to a stem that may be branched or unbranched and has only a limited role in conducting water and nutrients. Although some species have conducting tissues, these are generally not well developed and structurally different from similar tissue found in vascular plants. Mosses don't have seeds. After fertilization they develop sporophytes with unbranched stalks topped with single capsules containing spores. Look closely & see the stalks forming with the capsules at the end. I'll be closer examining with my microscope as the spore sacs begin to explode open.