Better exposition of moss owing to the stereoscope

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Hobbyst46
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Joined: Mon Aug 21, 2017 9:02 pm

Better exposition of moss owing to the stereoscope

#1 Post by Hobbyst46 » Fri Dec 21, 2018 10:28 pm

This is not as yet "dissection" of a moss, rather cutting off leaves, shortening the stem, removal of debris and attached sand particles, so the moss is better exposed. The stereoscope made those jobs doable - maybe one day I can really dissect the tiny moss organs.
This tiny moss, barely 1cm tall, is ubiquitous in November through February/March, grows in on the ground and between pavement tiles in small bright green tufts, the female and male parts are separate, and the venter has just started growing. I noticed two "forms" growing together, but with my zero knowledge of plant taxonomy (mosses in particular) I cannot identify either form.

So below are just photos of one of them - the one with much larger leaves. All photos with the compound microscope since I have no camera for the stereo. Leaves are about 2mm long.

I think that the sperms are just visible within the antheridia. Also visible are the various cell types along the leaf and the costa. I like these guys!

Side note:
This is the first time I have used my Zeiss Planachromat 2.5X0.08. It is not very parfocal with my other Zeiss 6.3X, 10X...objectives. Moreover, to fill the FOV with light, one must either unscrew and remove the front lens of the condenser (reducing its NA from 1.4 to 0.32), or remove the entire condenser from the microscope. In both cases, the FOV is filled with light OK, but the view of the colors of the specimen (not just the camera image) become unpleasant, the green moss adopts a strong gray, almost black, tint! Any trick to overcome this issue (here I fooled the result by software manipulations of the colors...)?
Attachments
No1 - 2.5X.jpg
No1 - 2.5X.jpg (269.48 KiB) Viewed 4036 times
No2 - 2.5X, POL.JPG
No2 - 2.5X, POL.JPG (216.4 KiB) Viewed 4036 times
No3 - 6.3X.JPG
No3 - 6.3X.JPG (377.46 KiB) Viewed 4036 times
No4 - 10X.JPG
No4 - 10X.JPG (426.15 KiB) Viewed 4036 times
Last edited by Hobbyst46 on Fri Dec 21, 2018 10:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Hobbyst46
Posts: 4277
Joined: Mon Aug 21, 2017 9:02 pm

Re: Better exposition of moss owing to the stereoscope

#2 Post by Hobbyst46 » Fri Dec 21, 2018 10:50 pm

(continued)
Switched from Firefox to Microsoft IE to upload this.
Attachments
No5 - 25X.JPG
No5 - 25X.JPG (499.56 KiB) Viewed 4026 times
No6 - 25X, anteridia.JPG
No6 - 25X, anteridia.JPG (454.48 KiB) Viewed 4026 times
No7 - Young venter.jpg
No7 - Young venter.jpg (160.49 KiB) Viewed 4026 times

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mrsonchus
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Location: Cumbria, UK

Re: Better exposition of moss owing to the stereoscope

#3 Post by mrsonchus » Fri Dec 21, 2018 10:52 pm

Hahey! Nicely done!

The darkness at x2.5 is also present with my Leitz x2.5, and I also swing-out (in the case of the Leitz 603 condenser) the top lens to reduce the N.A. and to fill the FOV of the x2.5 - a very handy objective I find.

At x10 the top lens is swung in and this characteristic is absent as you'll know.

It is possible to actually swing-in the top lens with the x2.5 as the area of the FOV that is photographed, on my system anyway, is small enough to be covered by the now fully-lit (without the extreme darkness of the thicker parts) but reduced FOV as seen through the eyepieces....

I usually scan with the x2.5 then stitch with the x10 - I don't use a x4 at all, next-up is a x25 for me.

Great to see moss on the menu! Keep those images coming - one of the more knowledgeable moss-botherers here will probably give an ID....

More moss!

John B. :D :D
John B

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mrsonchus
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Location: Cumbria, UK

Re: Better exposition of moss owing to the stereoscope

#4 Post by mrsonchus » Fri Dec 21, 2018 10:55 pm

Lovely images, antheridia with their attendant protective paraphyses I think.

Really nice clear images, look at those glowing chloroplasts!

John B.
John B

desertrat
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Location: Idaho

Re: Better exposition of moss owing to the stereoscope

#5 Post by desertrat » Fri Dec 21, 2018 11:09 pm

Those are good, sharp images.

One of the reasons I'm fooling around with electronic eyepiece cameras is so I can share images from my AO Cycloptic, which doesn't have a trinocular head.
Rick

A/O 10 Series Microstar
A/O 4 Series Microstar
A/O 4 Series Phasestar
A/O 4 Series Apostar
A/O Cycloptic Stereo
Several old monocular scopes in more or less decrepit but usable condition

Hobbyst46
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Joined: Mon Aug 21, 2017 9:02 pm

Re: Better exposition of moss owing to the stereoscope

#6 Post by Hobbyst46 » Mon Dec 24, 2018 7:37 am

The moss shown above grows to form dark green patches. Its neighbor is another type of moss (another species?) of a lighter green tint and narrower leaves. The composite moss carpet is shown in photo no 8 below. I could not find its antheridia or other reproductive organs - perhaps too early in the season. So I only separated the leaves of the narrow-leaf variety and took some photos.

Mounting in PVA seems to preserve the pigments well - hopefully for years. I seal with gel nail polish (UV curable).
All photos are single images, except the 25X, which is a stack of 9 images, spaced 2 micrometers apart.

For the 2.5X image (No 9), I followed John B's (@mrsonchus) advice, using the full NA of the condenser and sweeping in the auxiliary lens under the condenser, so the center of the FOV is bright enough and the colors are decently natural.
All images were post-processed with respect to contrast and saturation. The final color hue is not identical to how it looks in the meadow - will have to improve that...

It appears that the dispersion of chlorophylls in the cell are not the same in the two mosses.

Thanks for comments,
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!
Attachments
No 8 - mixed moss site.jpg
No 8 - mixed moss site.jpg (497.31 KiB) Viewed 3949 times
No 9 - 2.5X cropped.jpg
No 9 - 2.5X cropped.jpg (105.06 KiB) Viewed 3949 times
No 10 - 6.3X.jpg
No 10 - 6.3X.jpg (180.97 KiB) Viewed 3949 times
No 11 - 10X.jpg
No 11 - 10X.jpg (230.73 KiB) Viewed 3949 times
No 12 - 25X - stack of 9 spaced at 2microns.jpg
No 12 - 25X - stack of 9 spaced at 2microns.jpg (226.28 KiB) Viewed 3949 times

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