Plant Diversity

Bryophytes

What plants are erroneously called mosses?

Not all plants called mosses are bryophytes. Irish moss (Chondrus crispus) and related species are actually red algae. Iceland moss (Cetraria islandica) and reindeer moss (Cladonia rangiferina) are lichens. Club mosses (genus Lycopodium) are seedless, vascular plants, and Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides) is a flowering plant in the pineapple family. (For more about lichens, see the chapter “Fungi.”)



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