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Article: Moss or moss imposter?
- Article from:
- The American Biology Teacher
- Article date:
- April 1, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright National Association of Biology Teachers Apr 1996. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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The term "moss" is used frequently in the common names of organisms that come from many unrelated divisions. For example, Irish moss and sea moss are algae; reindeer mosses are lichens; club mosses are lycophytes; and Spanish moss, moss pink, moss vervain and mossy stonecrop are all angiosperms. With some exceptions, plants that have "moss" as a part of a common name have similar growth characteristics, with short stems, small leaves and a low, compact or cushion growth form, and may easily be mistaken for a true moss by a layman. Such plants, however, often have other easily visible characteristics, such as flowers, fruits, sporangia or vascular systems which not only indicate that the ...