COMMON HAIR MOSS 



Pull down a leaf and note the colourless sheath at its base 

 clasping the stem. In plants that have been allowed to get 

 dry you will notice that the leaves close up so as to lie against 

 the stem, but on dipping the plant into water they spread out 

 again. In addition, some of the hair-mosses have a thin wing 

 along each side of the leaf, and when the plant gets dry these 

 wings roll inwards and cover the green middle part of the leaf. 

 The hair -mosses are therefore beautifully adapted for life 

 in places where they are liable to undergo periods of drought, 



7 



B 



FIG. 27. Common Hair Moss. A, a leaf, magnified ; B, a piece of stem with three leaves 

 spread out (moist condition) ; C, same with leaves closed up (dry condition). 



and have excellent means of protecting themselves against drying 

 up. 



The male " flower " is cup-like, and is peculiar in that 

 the stem after a time (when the sperms have been discharged) 

 grows out of the cup, and produces another cup and so on (Fig. 

 26, A, B). The capsule grows on a long, firm stalk (2 to 5 inches), 

 and is at first erect and covered with a conical, fibrous hood 

 which is easily picked off, but eventually the capsule becomes 

 horizontal by the bending of the stalk. It is sharply divided 



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