Aulacomnium palustre

Maier, Eva & Price, Michelle J., 2014, Georg Bojung “ Scato ” Lantzius-Beninga and his contributions on the anatomy of moss capsules: a transliteration from the original German texts, Boissiera 67, pp. 1-79 : 39-40

Aulacomnium palustre .

A wall with sixteen very large peristome cells each situated above the gap between the outer capsule wall and the spore sac appears here as well. The membranes, orientated towards the outer side of the capsule, show a partly, very strongly thickened cord, which is, as it is visible in the transverse section Tab. LXII. Fig. 23 , built of the thickening of the outer membrane of the peristome cells themselves and at the same time of the thickenings of the outer neighbouring cells, thus consisting (in transverse section) of three parts. The wall of the peristome cells orientated towards the inside is delicately plicate and quite regular and not strongly thickened.

The thickening of the outer membrane follows, partly, the horizontal separating walls of the peristome cells thus creating a saw-like notched aspect on the inner side of the outer thickening cords.

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Towards the apex of the capsule the peristome cells and, moreover, the cells of the inner tissue become smaller and their thickenings become weaker.

Extremely delicate is the formation of the annulus of Aulacomnium palustre consisting of relatively big, horizontally flattened and inwardly thin-walled cells, that are mostly empty of a granulose content, thus differing from other cells of the exterior membrane, see Tab. LXII. Fig. 22. a .

After the deterioration of the capsule the outer peristome are maintained as sixteen outer strong thickening cords, the thickened spots of the plicate inner membrane as the inner peristome, whilst all other un-thickened parts of the peristome cells as well as the neighbouring cells deteriorate and mostly entirely disappear. By the destruction of the thin delicate horizontal separating walls of the peristome cells, the circle of the outer thickening cords, or the outer peristome, will be separated from the inner, plicate, partly thickened membrane –the inner peristome; this membrane remains mostly completely joined together in the lower part up to about the median height (at least it is in the corners or the plicae that it separates); above the median height and further up the thickenings become weaker and appear in places, more or less distinct, to be formed from small delicate cords, the reason why the disintegration in inner teeth and cilia takes place here.

The same is the structure of the capsule and the peristome in all species of Bryum and in closely related genera which I could examine. I name as more exactly examined: Bryum turbinatum , capillare , crudum , cuspidatum , Pohlia elongata and so on.*)

Figures

Fig. 23. of a transverse section of a capsule of Aulacomnium palustre, magnification x 170, for both. To notice is at the thickening of the outer peristome cell wall in Fig. 23. pp the dark part x and the bright part y; x shows the average strength of the tooth, y the lamella; compare the same letters in Fig. 22.

Fig. 22. Part of a longitudinal section, and