Moss cuckoo flax unusual facts. Kukushkin flax: structure and reproduction

Kukushkin flax is a genus of mosses. Usually, when considering the structure of cuckoo flax, one of its species (common cuckoo flax), widespread in Russia, is considered. This plant grows in places with high humidity, needs to good lighting... Kukushkin flax forms a dense cover on the ground, which prevents the growth of other plants and the evaporation of moisture. As a result, it can lead to waterlogging of soils.

By outward appearance cuckoo flax is a herbaceous plant about 20 cm high. The stem usually does not branch, it has a greenish-brown tint. On the stem, there are many narrowed thin leaves. You can see a vein on them. Cuckoo flax is attached to the soil with the help of rhizoids (similar to roots, since they do not have tissues characteristic of roots).
Kukushkin common flax

The stem serves to support and transport substances. Cuckoo flax has primitive conductive tissues. So, water with minerals flows through some cells, and organic substances through others.

The leaves contain rows of cells, the main function of which is photosynthesis, that is, the synthesis of organic substances. However, it seems that the leaves can also absorb water.
Rhizoids not only attach the plant to the soil, but also suck in water with minerals dissolved in it.

Kukushkin flax reproduces by spores. When a spore hits moist soil, it germinates to form what is called a sprout. It looks like a branching thread. On the seedling buds are formed, from which cuckoo flax plants grow.

Kukushkin flax - dioecious plant... This means that it has male and female plants. At the top of the stems of male plants, the so-called antheridia are formed. Sperm cells mature in them. Archegonia are formed on female plants. An ovum matures in each archegonia.

During rains or floods, sperm swim up to the eggs. Fertilization and the formation of a zygote occurs. Water plays an important role in the life of mosses. Only thanks to her is sexual reproduction possible. Thus, in the evolutionary development, mosses, not only in structure, have not gone very far from algae, but also in their way of life.

Spores mature in the sporophyte capsule. When the cap falls off, the spores disintegrate. Once in favorable conditions, they give rise to a new seedling.

From a distance, mosses resemble a carpet or fur of a greenish, red or brown color. Up close, you can see that the fibers of the carpet are stalks with leaves. Moss leaves usually consist of one layer of cells. The moss stems bring the leaves to the light. Many mosses have thin outgrowths on their stems - rhizoids, with which they cling to the ground.

Green moss cuckoo flax is a small plant, usually no more than 20 cm. In cuckoo flax stems are brownish-green, unbranched, densely covered with narrow leaves.

Mosses grow in dense turf. Rainwater helps to get sperm to the tops of female plants. They penetrate the eggs, fertilization occurs, and a zygote is formed. The next year, a spore box develops from the zygote. The spore enters damp soil and grows into a thin green thread. The thread branches; buds appear on it, from which moss shoots grow.

What are we doing. Consider the green moss plant cuckoo flax.

Find: stem and leaves, rhizoids, (thin brown outgrowths), stem and capsule (at the top of the stem).

Examine the sheet under a microscope and sketch in a notebook.

Determine the shape of the stem (branched, unbranched).

Identify a male or female plant.

Under a magnifying glass, examine a longitudinal section of the box with a lid and find spores inside. Consider disputes under a magnifying glass.

Kukushkin flax, or polytrichum, is a type of moss that grows in places with high humidity. In Russia, the plant is widespread in the northern and central regions. Moss prefers wetlands with an abundance of sunlight.

The structure of cuckoo flax

The dark green stem grows up to 12–17 cm in height. Pointed linear subulate leaves have no petioles. At the bottom of the stem are rhizoids - filamentous formations that attach to the substrate and conduct nutrients into plant cells.

Source: Depositphotos

Cuckoo flax moss consists of male and female plants

The primary stem is horizontal to the soil and has no leaves. The secondary stem is branched, covered with leaf blades. Leaves located near the rhizoids develop in the form of scales.

Inside the stem is a primitive conduction system that delivers water and dissolved nutrients to the cells of the moss.

Elongated plant cells are connected in pairs. Their function is fluid transport and photosynthesis.

Due to its dense texture, cuckoo flax is used as a mezhventsovy heater in the construction of residential buildings and outbuildings. Moss has a diuretic, disinfectant and anti-inflammatory effect and is used in folk medicine. The dried plant is stuffed into mattresses and pillows.

Reproduction of cuckoo flax moss

Cuckoo flax moss reproduces asexually and sexually. After flowering, spores are formed, which are stored in boxes - sporangia. Matured spores are deposited on the substrate. In a favorable climate, they form multicellular filaments, from which, by budding, gametophytes appear - brown-green perennial shoots with rhizoids. The gametophyte develops into an independent adult organism.

Kukushkin flax is a dioecious plant consisting of male and female shoots. At the end of the male stems in the center of the leaf rosette, antheridia are formed, containing gametes - spermatozoa. Archegonia with mature eggs are formed on female shoots.

The stages of the fertilization process:

• During the rainy season and high water, the sperm are separated from the antheridia and attached to the ovum. A connection occurs, which ends with the formation of a zygote - a fertilized plant cell.
• After 11–13 months, a box develops from the zygote - a sporogon located on a long, bare stem. In it, spores develop, which are carried by gusts of wind to 2–5 m. The spores grow into a thread - a pre-growth, from which buds are formed, which grow into female and male plants.

The breeding cycle of cuckoo flax is an alternation of sexual and asexual reproduction. Moss propagates vegetatively. Place the bed with the plant in a moist nutrient medium and it will grow into a dense, dense pillow-like turf.

Kukushkin flax is a perennial green moss that grows in swampy forest areas. The plant reproduces sexually and asexually. Necessary condition for fertilization - a favorable climate.

Has a stem, narrow, spirally arranged leaves; instead of roots, filamentous outgrowths in the lower part of the stem are rhizoids. Its feeding method is the same as that of algae, since the moss contains chlorophyll and is green in color.

Sphagnum moss.

The stem is thin, the main shoot is erect, branched. Side shoots arranged in bunches, at the top of the main stem, the shoots are twisted into a head. All branches are densely covered small leaves... There are no rhizoids, the lower end of the stem, immersed in water, gradually dies off. The bark of the sphagnum stem consists of large aquiferous cells. Many of these cells are found in the leaves. In this regard, sphagnum absorbs and retains a large amount of water.

Reproduction of mosses

The bryophytes have a characteristic feature of the organization: the sexual generation - gametophyte, on which sex cells (gametes) are formed, and asexual - sporophyte, on which disputes are formed.

Flax gametophytes are dioecious. The organs of sexual reproduction develop at the apex of the male and female plants. After fertilization on female plants, a sporophyte is formed from the zygote - a capsule sitting on a long stem. The capsule has a lid, which disappears by the time the spores mature. Spores are poured out and scattered by the wind. In favorable conditions, after a few days or weeks, they germinate into a gametophyte. Green mosses are also characterized by vegetative propagation - by body parts and special buds.

Questions :

- What is the limiting factor for mosses?

- Why is mosses a dead-end branch in evolution?

The value of sphagnum mossesin nature.

1. Sphagnum absorbs and retains large amounts of water.

2. Sphagnum, growing in dense turf, causes waterlogging of the soil.

The appearance of calcium salts in the water or soil on which sphagnum grows has a depressing effect on it. In this regard, liming of soils is a means of combating the growth of sphagnum and waterlogging of soils.

3. Sphagnum plays a role in the formation of peat

Deep peat is dense, black in color. The plant particles that formed the peat were charred.

Peat taken from the upper layer of the moss bog is loose and brown in color. In such peat, parts of sphagnum are clearly visible. Sphagnum is a peat generator.

Additional Information.

Peat – sedimentary rock consisting of incompletely decomposed plant debris. In its natural state, it is a mass of black or brown color, relatively homogeneous in composition and color. It is used as fertilizer, fuel, chemical raw materials.

From 1 ton of absolutely dry peat you can get:

3500–3700 kg of organic fertilizer;

30–35 kg of wax;

200–220 kg of feed yeast;

150-180 kg of activated carbon;

650-700 kg of growth stimulants;

 350-500 kg of colorants.

How does a person use mosses?

Man began to use mosses in his household a long time ago. Already in the Stone Age, it was an irreplaceable improvised material, as evidenced by archaeological excavations, the most ancient of which date back to the early Mesolithic (a stone knife with a moss pad on the handle). A warehouse of knives and scrapers from the Bronze Age was found in Germany, tightly packed in a homogeneous mass of mosses. Analysis showed that it is sphagnum moss Sphagnum palustre and the rest is green floor moss Hylocomim splendens.

Mosses were used both as a soft bedding for a bed, and as a material for sealing cracks in dwellings - the latter is widespread in our time. Scandinavian peoples have moss Fohtinalis antipyretica caulked cracks in ancient dwellings, believing that it protects against fire.

From cuckoo flax ( Polytrichum commune) due to its flexibility, relatively large size and strength, panicles, ropes and packaging material have been manufactured for a long time.

Peat ranks second after coal in terms of its reserves among fossil fuels. It is used as a fuel in its natural form (lump peat) or after appropriate technological processing.

The primary products of dry distillation of peat (coking and gasification) are valuable chemical raw materials from which artificial wax, paraffin, phenols, acetic and nitric acid, and much more are produced.

Peat is also used as a building material for thermal insulation and cladding.

Peat is an excellent material for making powdered filter and decolorizing coals. It can be used to filter water and other liquids.

From high-moor peats with a degree of decomposition not exceeding 25%, peat bedding is made for animal husbandry. Due to the high moisture and gas absorption properties of peat, it is softer, more elastic, dry, warm and hygienic in comparison with straw, as a result of this, the health of domestic animals is better.

Peat planting pots are made from high-moor sphagnum peat with a decomposition rate of 30–45% and a moisture content of 75–85% with the addition of manure and superphosphate to increase the nutrient content.

Sphagnum peat and sphagnum are an ancient folk remedy for the healing of purulent wounds and abscesses. The bactericidal properties of sphagnum moss are due to the content in it iodine and a special substance - sphagnola, an aromatic hydrocarbon, a derivative of benzene acid (a powerful antiseptic).

The eighties of the last century - the beginning of the widespread use of sphagnum in surgery as a dressing material. It was widely used in this capacity during the Great Patriotic War... But later, cotton wool, as more convenient to use, displaced sphagnum from surgical practice.

In the middle of the 20th century, a sphagnol extract was obtained from sphagnum using the extraction method, which kills streptococcal and staphylococcal bacteria.

Due to these biochemical features (excretion during external environment sphagnol and iodine) water in a sphagnum bog is always ready to be consumed raw, without the risk of travelers "catching" any disease. The water of many taiga rivers, originating in raised sphagnum bogs, is colored brown, which gives it iodine, which is contained in such water in large quantities.

Conclusions.

 Swamp - This is a biocenosis, which includes several hundred species of plants and animals.

 Swamps supply a lot of oxygen to the atmosphere and play an important role in its purification from pollutants (the mass of absorbed dust reaches 3 t / ha).

 Swamps have an impact on the formation of the heat and radiation balance, affect the water regime of neighboring territories.

• Their large surface contributes to increased evaporation, which softens the climate.

 Protection of wetlands is necessary, mainly because they are an integral part of the biosphere, which determines the ecological balance of the environment.

 The economic development of bogs should be carried out with a careful study of these most valuable biogeocenoses.

Hello dear reader!

Green moss cuckoo flax, one of the most common mosses in our forest, at the same time is one of the few that have received their own name in Russian. This is no coincidence, of course. After all, this moss was used and is still used today - during construction wooden houses it is laid between the crowns of a house under construction as insulation. Yes and ethnoscience did not bypass this plant with my attention.

By the way, about the names ... Moss cuckoo flax is named "flax", probably for some similarity with young shoots of real field flax. Although, in my opinion, it still looks more like young Christmas trees that have just come out of the soil. Why "kukushkin" is more difficult to say. They say that the box of this flax looks like a "cuckoo sitting on a pole." I'm not sure, I find few similarities. Maybe fantasy is not enough ...

We call this moss "iron ore" - for strong long stems. And one more, perhaps the most common name for cuckoo flax - "red moss". Its brownish-red stems are visible even through the leaves. And when the moss lies in the wall and the leaves crumble ... To lie there, without losing its properties at all, this moss is capable of many decades! "Zheleznyak", "red moss" - the best construction moss, so that's it!

Description and photo of cuckoo flax moss

Kukushkin flax, or common polytrichum (Polytrichum commune) is a perennial spore plant, leafy green moss from the polytrichous family. Most of all, a single shoot of this moss resembles a miniature tree. Dark green, narrow and rather long leaves of moss, arranged in a spiral, cover almost the entire plant. Instead of roots, the moss develops rhizoids. It is widely distributed in the forest zone, especially in coniferous forests, as well as in forest-tundra and tundra.

Moss cuckoo flax in spring

Moss shoots usually grow by 10 - 15 centimeters, but under favorable conditions they can stretch up to half a meter! What are these favorable conditions? Cuckoo flax moss prefers moist soils, therefore it settles in spruce forests, in lowlands, near swamps and in swamps, as well as in damp meadows.

And also, like most plants, this moss loves sunlight. In a dark spruce forest, even on fertile and moist soil, it will be limited in its growth. They do not allow to grow strongly. But if the forest is cut down ...

That's when the time for cuckoo flax comes! It stretches in length, aggressively captures new areas, tightens the soil with dense cushions. Not a single seed will break through this veil to the ground! Cuckoo flax moss actively populates not only felling areas, but also burnt down after forest fires - those areas that are damp.

Moss is able to absorb water well. In addition, the soil dries out less under the cover of thick moss. The air in the curtain is always more humid. Therefore, the active growth of cuckoo flax is the first step towards waterlogging of the forest.

So foresters do not like this moss! After all, its abundance will hinder reforestation. Foresters have to struggle with cuckoo flax. And this is an extra concern! And who loves them, unnecessary worries ?!

Only, if you figure out who is to blame for the excessive growth of this moss? Yes, man, of course. In the forest untouched, he does not have such opportunities. And, therefore, "you like to ride ...".

Life cycle of cuckoo flax moss

The second rule. The torn bunches of cuckoo flax are collected into ribbons about 40 centimeters long, thrown away the garbage, tied up these bunches (at least with grass) and put in bags.

Rule three. Damp moss needs to be dried. But you can't dry it out either - it will crumble. In dry summers, moss collected outside the swamp does not need to be dried at all. If the weather is rainy, the material brought from the forest is hung under a canopy on special hangers made of boards, dried, and again put into bags.

The fourth and last rule. Ribbons of cuckoo flax moss, slightly fluffed up, are laid on a row of logs across, so that the ends hang from the frame outside and inside the future building, and it is almost hidden behind a moss curtain. Moreover, one tape should partially overlap the other, and the thickness of the moss layer should not be less than one and a half centimeters. When dry, both the frame itself and the moss will shrink, but you need to reliably isolate the room from the outside air. The hanging ends of the moss are tucked up and compacted with caulk in the grooves between the crowns.

Traditional medicine uses cuckoo flax moss in the treatment of certain colds and uterine bleeding. However, the pharmaceutical value of moss has not been scientifically proven. However, perhaps science has not yet reached this point ...

Cuckoo flax decoction is used to strengthen hair. However, nettle is just as good for this, and finding it is much easier.

This is how it is, forest moss, cuckoo flax - both an "aggressor" and a natural insulation. Interesting forest plant from the class of real mosses.

I am waiting for your (yours!) Comment, dear reader!

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