MOSSES 



not look like the slender creeping rootstocks of some 

 ferns? The little treeUke plants come up from this 

 underground stem in the same \va}' that fern fronds 



Tree Moss. 



spring up from their rootstocks. Because this moss is 

 so much like little trees it is called tree moss. 



Notice how the stems bearing the capsules come out 

 from among the green leaves at the side of the stem. 

 There are quite a number of our mosses whose capsules 

 grow in this way. The tree mosses are among the larg- 

 est of these. The capsules nearly always stand up 

 straight at the ends of their long stems. AA'hen young 

 the capsules are green, but as the spores ripen they turn 

 brown. The beak at the top has a long point. When 



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