# Moss/Liverwort ID *Round Two*



## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

Well today I decided to go over to our local nursery for the first time. I kept meaning to go over there before but never made it, until today. This was a really nice outdoor nursery with tons and tons of plants/trees. As I was walking through the facility, I see these little liverwort plants growing in one of their plant "rooms" (outdoor area with clear tarp set over wooden posts). I asked the owner if she had any for sale. She said no, but that I could take all I want... :shock: 

So she gives me a bag and tells me I can take whatever I want as long as its growing on the ground. I happened to also go into another "room" that had a sprinkler system in it that went on every 2 mintutes for about 10 seconds at a time. There was moss EVERYWHERE! I grabbed another bag from her and and went to town on that moss. What I really like about the moss is that it was growing SOAKING WET in a mud/clay kinda substrate. It was also growing all over the wooden tables and all over the sprinkler pipes. Kinda similar conditions in some of my terrariums. Its beautiful.

Then there was this "other" thing that I'm not sure what it is. This is what I need the ID help on. I found it growing underneath a row of palm trees on the black cloth/tarp stuff that they had the trees sitting on. The little area had good air flow and good light, but it had a tad bit of moisture on the ground where this little plant was growing. It was growing in shallow mats and it was impregnated with springtails. Springtails EVERYWHERE. It looks like some sort of liverwort or something. I dunno.

Pictures:







































<-- What it looks like under flourescent lighting!









This is the weird plant. Any ideas?








Each of the little fat stem things is about the size of a Hydei fruitfly.


----------



## Guest (Mar 7, 2006)

That moss is crazy, dunno what it is though, sorry. But that is great that the owner let you do that! I am going to my local nursery this weekend, hope that happens to me! Good luck!


----------



## slaytonp (Nov 14, 2004)

Great collection of free stuff!! The mosses are probably unidentifiable from photos, but the "liverworts" may be fern prothaliums. Wait and see what crops up from them. You may get a nice surprise.


----------



## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

Thanks for the replies. I've got extra of the Liverwort if anyone wants some of it. Just PM me and I'll send a little "sample" over your way.


----------



## KeroKero (Jun 13, 2004)

I want some but I think it would die shipped here cuz its so cold


----------



## Ryan (Feb 18, 2004)

Awesome pics, not sure what kind it is, but the last one i have some of, grows kinda moist. I found it with riccia fluitans along a lake shore.

Ryan


----------



## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

the liverwort i got from hirts.com looks just like that stuff. But i dont think they say what species it is. The moss looks similar to one of the varieties i've found here in oklahoma, but i've never seen it in large clumps like that. But if its from florida there is a good chance it will survive in a viv. I believe the stuff i found here that looks like it is surviving amongst the many other species all thrown in together.


----------



## defaced (May 23, 2005)

I'll take some liverworts. Payment for shipping by PayPal ok?

I've got a moss picture ID site I'll check when I get home, but I'm at the computer lad where I'm supossed to be writing a report about heat treating steels. . . and it's not writing its self.



*Never pay again for live sex! | Hot girls doing naughty stuff for free! | Chat for free!*


----------



## elmoisfive (Dec 31, 2004)

Looks like you scored some really interesting plants. It will be interesting to see how well the moss does in your vivs long term.

Bill


----------



## Guest (Mar 7, 2006)

Yep those are definatly liverworts although I couldnt tell you want species they are. I can tell you that they are the most insidious plant Ive delt with. NOTHING will kill this plant. Aside from fire i suppose. Ive put everything from round up to hydrgen trioxide ( yes trioxide) on these little things and nothing seems to stop them. No wonder theyve been around so long.
So just make sure you want them in your tank BEFORE you add them.
I recently made a moss cocktail from some mosses I collected from the greenhouse, there wasnt a single bit of liverwort in the moss but now ive got these little buggers sprouting up all over my tank. Hopefully they wont choke everything out.

Matt


----------



## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

I'm thinking about making a 2nd trip over there to collect some more of the moss so that I can pass it around too. I'd like to see who all has luck. This is a pic I took with my cell phone while I was there of the moss growing in the "wet room".










That should give you an idea of how wet this stuff doesn't mind getting.


----------



## bluedart (Sep 5, 2005)

wow, very nice! hope everything works out--should make for some nice viv additions.


----------



## Ryan (Feb 18, 2004)

There is a nursery by my house with a similar room, mister goes on all the time (first time i walked through that room i thought someone turned it on as a joke  ) Good luck, and thanks ALOT for the liverwort!


----------



## Guest (Mar 8, 2006)

What else was growing in the "Wet room"? I would try to get cuttings of some of the plants that can survive in our wet conditions.


----------



## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

epicentyr said:


> What else was growing in the "Wet room"? I would try to get cuttings of some of the plants that can survive in our wet conditions.


The only other thing that was growing in there were various types of weeds and this other tropical plant that was set out in pots. Not sure what kind of plant it was though. I'll snap a pic when I go back.


----------



## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

Well I went back today and scored a few pounds of Liverwort and also snagged some of that moss so that I could try to pass that around as well. So those of you that want Liverwort or Moss pm me and I'll send some your way. Just pay for shipping.


----------



## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

can you take paypal?


----------



## defaced (May 23, 2005)

Yes. I posted that on the first page.



*Never pay again for live sex! | Hot girls doing naughty stuff for free! | Chat for free!*


----------



## Guest (Mar 13, 2006)

*liverwort*

the liverwort you have is marchantia polymorpha, i usually use conocephalum conicum as it spreads faster but marchantia can be more visually appealing so its often worth the wait, those cups on its leaves have little green gametes in them that can be scooped out with a toothpick and spread on new areas to colonize them.


----------



## sports_doc (Nov 15, 2004)

Louis
I was just about to add that....I agree the conocephalum is a more vigorous grower. I purchased some of each from Carolina Biological in the past....and it looks like Frogtofall's is the same.

thanks for the additional info on propogating the marchantia. I will give it a try from the piece that Frogtofall sent!!

Shawn


----------



## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

Those of you that have gotten some of the Liverwort... It looks good? I was hoping the mail wouldn't destroy it.

Louis, thanks for the info. A lot of the Liverwort that I kept for myself has those little cups with the gametes in them. I'm gonna have to give the toothpick spreading a try. :wink:


----------



## sports_doc (Nov 15, 2004)

Got it. Looked fine (better than fine....great!)  . Nice and moist still...and it greened right up under lights in a tank. 

Thanks!

S


----------



## Ryan (Feb 18, 2004)

Lets say I wish I gave you more money for the shipping...you did a phenomenal job. Thanks again!

Ryan


----------



## defaced (May 23, 2005)

Mine looks great. It's in a temp tank until I can find a place to put it.



*Never pay again for live sex! | Hot girls doing naughty stuff for free! | Chat for free!*


----------



## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

Ryan, I'm glad it got to you safely. I tried to make sure it wouldn't get completely destroyed. Heh.

Defaced, thats great that yours is all good too.

Did anyone notice lots of little springtails or other critters on their pieces? A lot of the pieces I have are colonized by lots of little bugs.


----------



## defaced (May 23, 2005)

Finially found a decent site with lots of moss pictures and names. I seem to have misplaced the site I mentioned in my first post. I'm going to say your moss is related to Dicranoweisia crispula. http://bryophytes.plant.siu.edu/dicranoweisia.html Look at that and tell me what you think. I don't know much about IDing mosses, but I'm going to gues the orange spikey things are a good place to look for verification.



*Never pay again for live sex! | Hot girls doing naughty stuff for free! | Chat for free!*


----------



## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

The moss I collected doesn't have the little orange stalks which to my understanding are reproductive apperati. Oddly, some moss that I collected a few months ago does...


----------



## defaced (May 23, 2005)

That's what I understand about the orange things too. I would assume like most other plants, the moss must "bloom" before they can reproduce. I would guess the orange things would be the mosses version of flowers. Oddly, I've had different mosses in my vivs for a couple of years that haven't shot off these orange things, so I don't know what the deal is. Does the moss I posted look like yours aside from the stalks?



*Never pay again for live sex! | Hot girls doing naughty stuff for free! | Chat for free!*


----------



## StevenBonheim (Feb 22, 2004)

The orange things you guys are talking about are the spore producing structures (called sporophytes). They are the diploid structures and are dependant on the gametophyte structures (the green stuff, which produce the eggs and sperm). This is unlike flowering plants whos diploid structures are the entire plant except the eggs and pollen... so its sorta all in reverse in terms of which structures are dependant on the others for nutrients and such. At least this is how I understand it--- :roll:


----------



## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

Usually only happy moss will thave those. Usually after transplanting into a viv they'd die off, and if the moss does well eventually come back. But mosses will often survive and even spread but still not develope them in the tank...sometimes they will...and if so all the better, will help it spread more


----------



## defaced (May 23, 2005)

Ok, I was reffering to them like flowers meaning they had to be present to reproduce.



*Never pay again for live sex! | Hot girls doing naughty stuff for free! | Chat for free!*


----------



## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

The moss in the pic you posted looks close, but the green part is a little different. I posted the stuff I have in the first post, I'll redo it for comparison. You tell me...


















Its not quite the same.


----------



## defaced (May 23, 2005)

Grr. I tried to find other pictures of mosses in the Dicranoweisia genus (using Google image search) and they look nothing like your moss. Even the other pictures of Dicranoweisia crispula I found don't look like it. Are you near a university with a botany department? You might be able to get it IDed there.



*Never pay again for live sex! | Hot girls doing naughty stuff for free! | Chat for free!*


----------



## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

There might be, but I'm not too worried about it. Haha. Are you really hurtin' to find out what variety this is?


----------

