Moss?

[hans]

Just to be sure... this is moss, right? The leaves are around 500 um long.

[Hobbyst46]

Just to be sure... this is moss, right? The leaves are around 500 um long.

Yes, it is. The "leaves" are a single layer of cells. The brown parts are spore carriers. Mounting in fructose syrup (and sealing the coverslip with nail polish) preserves the green color for several weeks at least.

[mrsonchus]

Definitely moss, the "brown parts" are however not spore-carriers, which would be within a long-stalked 'capsule' which is the moss's sporophyte stage (not present here).
The round structures are papillae - many mosses have papillate leaf surfaces....
The brown-parts are likely 'rhizoids' although they look a little thick if so - but the angled cell-walls therein support their rhizoid nature..

An extended middle-vein AKA 'costa' is visible also, which, together with cell-shape and the above details may make make a rough (perhaps generic rather than specific) ID interesting to pursue?

[Hobbyst46]

Thanks John B, I stand corrected.

[hans]

Thanks for the confirmation.

Mounting in fructose syrup (and sealing the coverslip with nail polish) preserves the green color for several weeks at least.

Interesting, I have not tried making any permanent or even semi-permanent slides yet. With the fructose syrup is it mainly a matter of having water content low enough that nothing grows in it? Could other stuff like sucrose or honey work?

An extended middle-vein AKA 'costa' is visible also, which, together with cell-shape and the above details may make make a rough (perhaps generic rather than specific) ID interesting to pursue?

I did look briefly at some moss ID guides but was immediately overwhelmed by the number of possibilities and not knowing any of the terminology used to describe identifying features. These I have now are also mostly in poor condition, due to being scrubbed off the brick with a toothbrush, I assume. If I find another one in better condition are there some specific features I should try to photograph?

[Hobbyst46]

Interesting, I have not tried making any permanent or even semi-permanent slides yet. With the fructose syrup is it mainly a matter of having water content low enough that nothing grows in it? Could other stuff like sucrose or honey work?

AFAIK above a certain concentration of sugar, bacteria and mold activities are inhibited, I am not sure whether the only reason is the high osmotic pressure. Believe that sucrose or honey will have the same effect, yet if the mounting medium solidifies or crystallizes, the slide will be ruined. I adopted the fructose syrup from the protocols of the late expert microscopist Walter Dioni, and rely on his knowledge and experience.
I have tried polyvyinl alcohol glue (PVA) in the past, as well as glycerol, for mounting moss. The former was not markedly better than the fructose, the latter causes rapid fading of the chlorophyll color.

[mrsonchus]

Characters that will help with ID of moss include the costa (presence or not, continuation beyond tip of leaf and if so to what extent), cell shapes at leaf base (where it actually leaves the stem), sporophyte position if present (i.e. does it originate at the tip of a stem or at the side, apical vs lateral you may say), immediate environment in which it's found, growth habit - is it a 'cushion' or a 'blanket'... there's a long list of course but any search will give you a good indication of features to take note of...

[hans]

Characters that will help with ID of moss include the costa (presence or not, continuation beyond tip of leaf and if so to what extent), cell shapes at leaf base (where it actually leaves the stem), sporophyte position if present (i.e. does it originate at the tip of a stem or at the side, apical vs lateral you may say), immediate environment in which it's found, growth habit - is it a 'cushion' or a 'blanket'... there's a long list of course but any search will give you a good indication of features to take note of...

Not much progress on identification, reading more about moss...

I am not really clear on the terminology, but could these things I have been wondering about for a while be the rhizoids you mentioned, growing from germinating moss spores, and forming protonema or germ tubes?

The diameter is roughly 25 um with segments averaging 15 um long.

[Roldorf]

Forget the honey it's full of pollen.

[hans]

Got my hopes up I might might find some interesting pollen, but actually my honey appears to be very clean, to the point it was difficult tell if I was even focusing in the honey. I will try putting some on one of my cheap calibration slides so there is a reference to focus from. Maybe depends on whether the honey has been filtered? I have "Kirkland Signature wildflower honey" and there is no mention of filtering on the jug, but I think in the US honey is generally filtered unless it explicitly says "unfiltered"?

[Roldorf]

Maybe it's just sugar, water and some colouring and not honey at all. I don't think you can filter pollen grains out of honey and still have a product that you could sell at a profit.

[Hobbyst46]

Got my hopes up I might might find some interesting pollen, but actually my honey appears to be very clean, to the point it was difficult tell if I was even focusing in the honey. I will try putting some on one of my cheap calibration slides so there is a reference to focus from. Maybe depends on whether the honey has been filtered? I have "Kirkland Signature wildflower honey" and there is no mention of filtering on the jug, but I think in the US honey is generally filtered unless it explicitly says "unfiltered"?

Some high quality honeys change form in the cold. They solidify and become translucent. Probably some crystallization takes place. This never happens with pure fructose syrup.