… the divers ways Nature has concocted to get her work done.
Only recently, complete with video documentation, the problem of dispersing moss spores beyond the stagnant air of the forest floor has come to light.
And it turns out, the common sphagnum mosses SHOOT their spores under great pressure into the “turbulent boundary layer” where the probability of long-distance transport goes up considerably.
On sunny days as the spore-loaded “capsule” dries, pressures build up to create an “air gun” effect that shoots a vortex cloud of spores several inches up into the moving air.
This is the kind of “plants are really alive” support I would have loved to have back when my students thought of plants as second-class citizens of the living world.
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Thanks for that information. I have come to believe and experience that we really do “learn new things everyday.” Today I learned this fascinating fact about moss capsules. Thanks!
Thanks for the fun info, much enjoyed by a former Botany student.