They are small, delicate acrocarpous mosses (meaning that the capsules are formed at the tips of vertical branches) that form dark brown or reddish cushions on wet
siliceous rocks in mountainous areas. The
capsule lacks the
peristome teeth and
operculum of other mosses, and opens by splitting along 4 vertical slits, the four valves remaining joined at the base and apex. The capsule of Andreaea has no
seta, but the
sporophyte (Spf in the diagram below) instead is supported by a
pseudopodium (ps) derived from
gametophyte tissue, as in Sphagnum and the
columella is enclosed within the
sporangium. The spores germinate to give
thalloidprotonemata.[4][5][6][7][8]
^Abramov, I. I. & A. L. Abramova. 1983. Konspekt flor'i mhov Mongol'skoj Narodnoj Respubliki. Biologiceskie Resursy i Prirodnye Uslovija Mongol'skoj Narodnoj Respubliki 17. 221 pp.
^Florschütz-de Waard, J. & P. A. Florschütz. 1979. Estudios sobre criptógamas Colombianas III. Lista comentada de los musgos de Colombia. Bryologist 82: 215–259
^Kis, G. 1985. Mosses of South-East Tropical Africa, an annotated list with distributional data 170 pp. Institute of Ecology and Botany of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Vácrátót
^Mahú, M. 1979. Familias y géneros de musgos Chilenos. Bryologist 82: 513–524
^Greene, D. M. 1986. Conspectus of the Mosses of Antarctica, South Georgia, the Falkland Islands and Southern South America, 314 pp. British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge
They are small, delicate acrocarpous mosses (meaning that the capsules are formed at the tips of vertical branches) that form dark brown or reddish cushions on wet
siliceous rocks in mountainous areas. The
capsule lacks the
peristome teeth and
operculum of other mosses, and opens by splitting along 4 vertical slits, the four valves remaining joined at the base and apex. The capsule of Andreaea has no
seta, but the
sporophyte (Spf in the diagram below) instead is supported by a
pseudopodium (ps) derived from
gametophyte tissue, as in Sphagnum and the
columella is enclosed within the
sporangium. The spores germinate to give
thalloidprotonemata.[4][5][6][7][8]
^Abramov, I. I. & A. L. Abramova. 1983. Konspekt flor'i mhov Mongol'skoj Narodnoj Respubliki. Biologiceskie Resursy i Prirodnye Uslovija Mongol'skoj Narodnoj Respubliki 17. 221 pp.
^Florschütz-de Waard, J. & P. A. Florschütz. 1979. Estudios sobre criptógamas Colombianas III. Lista comentada de los musgos de Colombia. Bryologist 82: 215–259
^Kis, G. 1985. Mosses of South-East Tropical Africa, an annotated list with distributional data 170 pp. Institute of Ecology and Botany of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Vácrátót
^Mahú, M. 1979. Familias y géneros de musgos Chilenos. Bryologist 82: 513–524
^Greene, D. M. 1986. Conspectus of the Mosses of Antarctica, South Georgia, the Falkland Islands and Southern South America, 314 pp. British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge