mudboots

I just got back from Wisconsin and was amazed at the variety of mosses. I didn't have a camera with me while collecting specimens, but I was able to bring a few samples back. The pics are not very good because this gov-issue camera in my office has been through the worst, but there are at least 20 species or morphologies in the pics attached. This was a great trip for a guy from Texas. The sad thing is that now that I have these wonderful specimens, I've realized that I really have no where to put them.

Here are the first 5 pics:

mudboots

5 more pics:

mudboots

Last pics:











Again, I apologize for the picture quality. Some of these specimens really are beautiful.

Coralite

Hey Mud,
I too recently made a trip to Wisconsin and I was impressed by the abundance and diversity of mosses, but these were all terrestrial, forest mosses. Did you happen to find any aquatic mosses?

mudboots

No. In fact the wettest areas these were growing in didn't seem to be a happy home for them. One rock at Amnicon Falls had something growing in a hole in a rock, but there was so much algae over it that I didn't even bother. My wife said I could set up a small tank strictly for mosses and various epiphytes, but I don't think she knows how much money I'd be spending on such a terrarium (unless I could find a small used tank really cheap or free). Sure would be pretty though.

Hmmmm. Now that I think about it, there's not a whole lot of light needed, and a small glass box can't be all that much...

...collectoritis...

ashappard

absolutely!
find an unused aquarium and decent light and make it into a moss tank.
nice finds. short term you could put them in an unused tupperware and wet them occasionally.
cover the container with saran wrap put it in a window and they will be on life support until you find them a home.

miremonster

2 of the moss-like plants may be club mosses, not true mosses. Have these plants true roots?

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/f...9&d=1251126352
Perhaps a Lycopodium.

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/f...achmentid=9670
Huperzia?

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/f...achmentid=9672
A Hepatica species. Looks like our European H. nobilis.

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/f...achmentid=9671
Family Ranunculaceae: perhaps a Thalictrum or similar.

mudboots

My wife said "that'll be really neat". Dang. If we both have collectoritis, whose going to pay the bills?! Oh well, at least we'll have some neat set-ups for the kids to experiment in. This will be fun, and once I find them a new home and get it set up I'll post a pic or two in one of the forums.

The club mosses are awesome, and I wish I had collected more. They remind me of those house plants that I've heard called Norway Spruce and Princess Spruce. I hope they do well; I'm assuming they'll do well in the same conditions as the mosses (damp-wet organic soil, low-mod. lighting). Thinking back on where I found them they should all be pretty easy to maintain, but any advice ywould be greatly appreciated.

armedbiggiet

Attachment 9668 what is that Tonina looks like plant in the corner?

miremonster

Hello armedbiggiet,
I'm not sure - perhaps a moss (Polytrichum?) or a club moss (Huperzia?).