Cuckoo flax moss: structure and reproduction of the plant. Practical work “Structure of green moss cuckoo flax

Insulation wooden house is of mandatory and key importance, since the loss of thermal insulation in its walls can be terrifying, leading to large monetary costs for heating. Accordingly, in order to avoid this, insulation is laid between the crowns of a wooden house, in the role of which Kukushkin flax moss is often used. There is a lot of information about how useful this moss is, what properties it is famous for, where and how it is used. But, at the same time, few people know where cuckoo moss grows.

Actually, this is what we will talk about in this article.

Where does cuckoo flax grow?

Let's consider, first of all, our country. In our country, which occupies almost half of the entire globe, cuckoo flax can be found in almost any area. As a rule, it is most often found in forests and tundra with high humidity, in swamps and even meadows. For those who have never encountered this, we note that this plant is a stem, on the surface of which there are leaves that have sufficient high density. The approximate dimensions of this moss are 30-45 cm (depending on the place where it grows). This structure of the leaves, which have fairly high elasticity, as well as the ability to form turf, are responsible for the ability of this flax to absorb moisture well. This, during operation, allows it to absorb moisture without collapsing, but, on the contrary, quickly drying out at the first rays of the sun. As a rule, this moss is very easy to distinguish by color. Sphagnum, for example, always has light green leaves. Kukushkin flax, in turn, is always green.

Where is cuckoo flax used?

In the northern regions of our country, the tribal population uses cuckoo flax in medicinal purposes. It is applied to an open wound, burn or simple scratch. This is done because moss has antiseptic properties, thanks to which it can disinfect the affected areas. In addition, this natural plant is also used in global medicine. For example, shampoos are made from it, which later position themselves as good remedy against hair loss.

To summarize, we note that the large scope of application of this moss, in those areas where it grows, allows it to be a completely free and publicly available product that can be used not only in the construction industry, but also in everyday life.

But still, the main purpose of cuckoo flax moss is to use it as

From a distance, mosses resemble a carpet or fur of greenish, red or brown color. Up close you can see that the carpet fibers are stems with leaves. Moss leaves usually consist of one layer of cells. The stems of mosses carry the leaves towards the light. Many mosses have thin projections on their stems called rhizoids, with which they cling to the ground.

Green cuckoo flax moss is a small plant, usually no more than 20 cm. Cuckoo flax has brownish-green, unbranched stems, densely covered with narrow leaves.

Mosses grow in thick tufts. Rainwater helps sperm reach the tops of female plants. They penetrate the eggs, fertilization occurs, and a zygote is formed. On next year A spore capsule develops from the zygote. The spore lands on moist soil and germinates, forming a thin green thread. The thread branches; buds appear on it, from which shoots of moss grow.

What are we doing? Consider the green cuckoo flax moss plant.

Find: stem and leaves, rhizoids (thin brown outgrowths), stalk and capsule (at the top of the stem).

Examine the sheet under a microscope and sketch it in your notebook.

Determine the shape of the stem (branched, unbranched).

Determine whether the plant is male or female.

Look under a magnifying glass lengthwise cut boxes with a lid and find spores inside. Examine disputes under a magnifying glass.

It has a stem, narrow, spirally arranged leaves; instead of roots, thread-like outgrowths in the lower part of the stem are rhizoids. Its feeding method is the same as that of algae, since moss contains chlorophyll and is green in color.

Sphagnum moss.

The stem is thin, the main shoot is erect, branched. The side shoots are arranged in bunches; at the top of the main stem the shoots are twisted into a head. All branches are densely covered with small leaves. There are no rhizoids; the lower end of the stem, immersed in water, gradually dies. The bark of the sphagnum stem consists of large water-bearing cells. Many such cells are found in the leaves. In this regard, sphagnum absorbs and retains large amounts of water.

Moss propagation

Bryophytes have a characteristic organizational feature: the sexual generation - gametophyte, on which sex cells (gametes) are formed, and asexual - sporophyte, where spores are formed.

Gametophytes of cuckoo flax are dioecious. At the top of male and female plants, sexual reproductive organs develop. After fertilization on female plants, a sporophyte is formed from the zygote - a capsule sitting on a long stalk. The box has a lid, which disappears by the time the spores ripen. The spores spill out and are dispersed by the wind. IN favorable conditions after a few days or weeks they germinate into a gametophyte. Green mosses are also characterized by vegetative reproduction - by body parts and special buds.

Questions :

– What is the limiting factor for mosses?

– Why are mosses a dead-end branch in evolution?

The importance of sphagnum mossesin nature.

1. Sphagnum absorbs and retains large amounts of water.

2. Sphagnum, growing in dense turf, causes waterlogging of soils.

The appearance of calcium salts in the water or soil on which sphagnum grows has a depressing effect on it. In this regard, liming of soils is a means of combating the growth of sphagnum and waterlogging of soils.

3. Sphagnum plays a role in peat formation

Deep peat is dense and black. The plant particles that formed the peat became charred.

Peat taken from the top layer of a moss bog is loose and brown in color. In such peat, parts of sphagnum are clearly visible. Sphagnum is a peat former.

Additional Information.

Peat - sedimentary rock consisting of incompletely decomposed plant remains. IN natural state it is a relatively homogeneous mass of black or brown color in composition and color. Used as fertilizer, fuel, chemical raw materials.

From 1 ton of absolutely dry peat you can get:

3500–3700 kg of organic fertilizer;

30–35 kg of wax;

200–220 kg of feed yeast;

150–180 kg of activated carbon;

650–700 kg of growth stimulants;

 350–500 kg of dyes.

How do people use mosses?

Man began to use mosses in his farming a very long time ago. Already in the Stone Age it was an irreplaceable material at hand, as evidenced by archaeological excavations, the most ancient of which date back to the early Mesolithic (stone knife with a moss lining on the handle). A warehouse of Bronze Age knives and scrapers, tightly packed in a homogeneous mass of mosses, was found in Germany. Analysis showed that it is sphagnum moss Sphagnum palustre, and the rest is green floor moss Hylocomim splendens.

Mosses were used both as soft bedding and as a material for caulking cracks in homes - the latter is widespread in our time. The Scandinavian peoples have moss Fohtinalis antipyretica they caulked cracks in ancient dwellings, believing that it protected against fire.

From cuckoo flax ( Polytrichum commune) due to its flexibility, relatively large size and strength, brooms, ropes and packaging material have long been made.

In terms of its reserves, peat ranks second among fossil fuels after coal. It is used as fuel in natural form(lumpy peat) or after appropriate technological processing.

The primary products of dry distillation of peat (coking and gasification) are valuable chemical raw materials from which artificial wax, paraffin, phenols, acetic and nitric acid and much more are produced.

Peat is also used as a building material for thermal insulation and cladding.

Peat is an excellent material for creating powdered filter and decolorizing carbons. It can be used to filter water and other liquids.

Peat bedding for livestock is made from high-moor peat with a degree of decomposition of no higher than 25%. Due to the high moisture- and gas-absorbing properties of peat, it is softer, more elastic, dry, warm and hygienic compared to straw, and as a result, the health of pets is better.

Peat planting pots are made from high-moor sphagnum peat with a degree of decomposition of 30–45% and a humidity of 75–85% with the addition of manure and superphosphate to increase the nutrient content.

Sphagnum peat and sphagnum are an ancient folk remedy for healing purulent wounds and abscesses. The bactericidal properties of sphagnum moss are due to its content iodine and a special substance - sphagnola, an aromatic hydrocarbon derivative of benzene acid (a powerful antiseptic).

The eighties of the last century marked the beginning of the widespread use of sphagnum in surgery as a dressing material. It was widely used in this capacity during the Great Patriotic War. But subsequently, cotton wool, as more convenient to use, replaced sphagnum from surgical practice.

In the middle of the 20th century, a sphagnol extract was obtained from sphagnum using the extraction method, which kills streptococcal and staphylococcal bacteria.

Thanks to these biochemical features (the release of sphagnol and iodine into the external environment), the water in the sphagnum bog is always ready to be consumed raw, without the risk for travelers to “catch” any disease. The water of many taiga rivers, originating in high sphagnum bogs, is colored brown, which gives it iodine, which is contained in such water in large quantities.

Conclusions.

 Swamp is a biocenosis that includes several hundred species of plants and animals.

 Swamps supply a lot of oxygen to the atmosphere and play a large role in purifying it from pollutants (the mass of absorbed dust reaches 3 t/ha).

 Swamps influence the formation of heat and radiation balance, and influence the water regime of neighboring territories.

 Their large surface area increases evaporation, which moderates the climate.

 Protection of wetlands is necessary, mainly because they are an integral part of the biosphere, determining the ecological balance of the environment.

 Economic development of swamps should be carried out with a careful study of these valuable biogeocenoses.

Or Polytrichum vulgaris (Polytrichum commune)

Belongs to deciduous mosses.
Green moss cuckoo flax is the most common perennial in our forests. Moss grows in northern and middle lane in places with high humidity. It grows in damp, swampy taiga forests, in wet meadows and swamps in cushion-shaped turfs.
The moss looks like young shoots of Christmas trees that have just emerged into the light.
Kukushkin flax is unpretentious. Can withstand extreme heat and severe frosts.
The spore capsule is on a long stalk and has a different structure than that of other deciduous mosses. From the top it is closed with an easily falling cap with thin, downward-pointing hairs, reminiscent of linen yarn (hence the name). The ability to form turf and the structure of the leaves determine the surface accumulation of moisture and lead to waterlogging. The stem of cuckoo flax is brownish green, erect, usually not branched, 15-20 cm high. There are rhizoids on the lower part of the stem. With them, cuckoo flax is fixed in the soil and absorbs water and solutions of mineral substances from it.

Practical work“Structure of green moss cuckoo flax”

From a distance, mosses resemble a carpet or fur of greenish, red or brown color. Up close you can see that the carpet fibers are stems with leaves. Moss leaves usually consist of one layer of cells. The stems of mosses carry the leaves towards the light. Many mosses have thin outgrowths on their stems - rhizoids, with which they cling to the ground.
Green cuckoo flax moss is a small plant, usually no more than 20 cm. Cuckoo flax has brownish-green, unbranched stems, densely covered with narrow leaves.
Mosses grow in thick tufts. Rainwater helps sperm reach the tops of female plants. They penetrate the eggs, fertilization occurs, and a zygote is formed. The following year, a spore capsule develops from the zygote. The spore lands on moist soil and germinates, forming a thin green thread. The thread branches; buds appear on it, from which shoots of moss grow.
What are we doing? Consider the green cuckoo flax moss plant.
Find: stem and leaves, rhizoids (thin brown outgrowths), stalk and capsule (at the top of the stem).

Examine the sheet under a microscope and sketch it in your notebook.

Determine the shape of the stem (branched, not branched).

Kukushkin flax is one of the well-known deciduous mosses. The plant is quite small, its height reaches only 20-30 cm. The stem of the moss is covered with miniature leaves that absorb moisture and contribute to the rapid waterlogging of the area. It reproduces by spores and quickly colonizes large plot soil. It can be found in forests, mountains, meadows, and swamps, where they contribute to the formation of a dense canopy.

Harvesting moss

Kukushkin flax is harvested at the end of summer, when the spores ripen. The entire green part of the herb is collected, dried, and then used as tinctures, decoctions and medicinal teas.
An herbal infusion is prepared from 1 tbsp. l. dry raw materials and 200 ml hot water. Leave for two hours, then filter and apply 4 times a day, 1 tbsp. An infusion of seeds is prepared and used in the same way, but when it settles, it is kept for an hour less.

Application in medicine

Today's composition cuckoo flax has not been sufficiently studied, so it is not used in traditional medicine, but experienced herbalists use it in folk medicine. It is only known that flax has a laxative effect, since it contains resinous substances, essential oil and glieoside linamarin.

Kukushkin flax is used:

• to stop severe uterine bleeding;
• with a strong cough;
• with pneumonia;
• for bronchitis.

An infusion of cuckoo flax herb is used for dropsy, edema, constipation and kidney stones. The infusion from the seeds has slightly different pharmacological properties, so it is used as:

• emollient;
• anti-inflammatory;
• expectorant;
• enveloping agent.

This infusion is used in the treatment of neurasthenia, oliguria, dysmenoria, gonorrhea and as a laxative. Cuckoo flax can also be used externally as a powder.

The plant is also used in homeopathy. It is used for hemorrhoids, menstrual irregularities, bronchitis and diarrhea.
Teas from this type of moss are used to reduce pain from stomach colic, dissolve kidney and gallstones, and also improve the condition of the digestive tract. The infusion can be used to rinse the scalp for dandruff and hair loss. As a result of such procedures, the hair is toned and strengthened.

Other Applications

Kukushkin flax was used not only in folk medicine, but also during construction wooden houses as a sealant. Over time, many builders abandoned it, as it has a low degree of elasticity.

The plant is one of the main components of peat, which is used as fuel. But its most interesting use is as malt in the production of whiskey.

Kukushkin flax is used in gardening as a medicinal and ornamental plant. Thanks to its properties, moss restores the acidity of the soil, where in the future any type of plant can be grown.

Contraindications

If dosages are not followed and long-term use of infusions or decoctions of cuckoo flax can result in poisoning of the body.

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