Published by Daniel Mosquin on December 19, 2018
The common name–worm moss–is an appropriate name for Bryoandersonia illecebra, as the resemblance is uncanny. Bryoandersonia illecebra is endemic to eastern North America. Although it has a wide distribution across this part of the USA (especially in the southeast), it is quite rare in Canada and “expected” in northeastern Mexico (from link above). Worm moss, […]
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on May 1, 2018
Spring is now arriving throughout most of the Northern Hemisphere. For those of us in this part of the world, it’s nice to know that we can begin to enjoy blooming flowers not only on our computer screens, but also in person. For me, it is also satisfying to put a name to a plant […]
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on September 25, 2017
There are somewhere between 40 and 50 recognized species of Ptychomitrium, spanning much of the world. According to the Flora of North America, Ptychomitrium incurvum is native to eastern USA, Europe, and Ecuador. Incurved grizzled moss is also designated as extirpated in Canada.
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on July 14, 2015
The fruits of mock strawberry look a lot more delicious than they actually are. Descriptions of the fruit’s edibility range from insipid to mildly poisonous, so it looks like I’ll have to keep comforting myself with cream sans berries (though the raspberries and blueberries are now ripening locally). Like the strawberry, the fruits of Duchesnea […]
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on May 27, 2015
If you are like me, you have no idea what a complex thallose liverwort is (like today’s Preissia quadrata!). Thankfully, there are many sources available to us as we embark on a crash-course on liverwort morphology.
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on April 28, 2015
It is easy to imagine why the common name for this flower is eastern spring beauty; it is one of the first wildflowers to bloom in its eastern North American range, just as the western spring beauty (Claytonia lanceolata) is among the first bloomers here in the west of this continent.
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Published by Daniel Mosquin on April 22, 2015
Blunt-leaved pocket moss, or Fissidens obtusifolius, is a member of the Fissidentaceae, a family containing 450 species, all within the genus Fissidens.
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