Moss has a great number of leaflike structures over a small

Moss has a great number of leaf-like structures over a small area. How does this arrangement assist the leaves in interacting with their environment?

Solution

Mosses bears a stem-like axis along with leaf-like appendages and are called phyllids with spiral arrangements.Mostly are erect but some are prostrate.They lack lignin biosynthesis capacity and are never tall. These phyllids of mosses such as Mnium are single cell thick.In evolution mosses are 2–3 times slower than ferns, gymnosperms and angiosperm.Today moss are spread on land and absorb CO₂ from the atmosphere and extracted minerals by secreting organic acids dissolving the rocks they were growing on. This activity of moss chemically alters rocks and in turn reacts with the atmospheric CO₂ and forms new carbonate rocks in the ocean via weathering of calcium and magnesium ions from silicate rocks.Moss are autotrophic and they require enough sunlight to perform photosynthesis.   In regard to shade tolerance its species varies .Mosses grow mainly in areas of dampness and shade but they can also grow in cool damp cloudy climates, sunny, seasonally dry areas like alpine rocks or stabilized sand dunes.

Moss species can be classified as growing on: rocks, exposed mineral soil, disturbed soils, acid soil, calcareous soil, cliff seeps and waterfall spray areas, streamsides, shaded humusy soil, downed logs, burnt stumps, tree trunk bases, upper tree trunks, and tree branches or in bogs. They often grow on trees as epiphytes and never parasitic on the tree.Mosses may be found in cracks between paving stones in damp city streets, and on roofs. Examples Rhytidiadelphus squarrosus, a garden weed in Vancouver and Seattle areas; Bryum argenteum, the cosmopolitan sidewalk moss, and Ceratodon purpureus, red roof moss, another cosmopolitan species.Some species are aquatic, such as Fontinalis antipyretica, common water moss; and others such as Sphagnum inhabit bogs, marshes and very slow-moving waterways.Such aquatic or semi-aquatic mosses can exceed the normal range of lengths. Mosses needs liquid water to complete fertilisation and many of them can survive desiccation.Decaying moss,the major component of peat is \"mined\" for fuel, as a horticultural soil additive, and in smoking malt in the production of Scotch whisky.