''Physcomitrium'' is a genus of

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...

es, commonly called urn moss, that includes about 80 species and has a

cosmopolitan distribution In biogeography, cosmopolitan distribution is the term for the range of a taxon that extends across all or most of the world in appropriate habitats. Such a taxon, usually a species, is said to exhibit cosmopolitanism or cosmopolitism. The ext ...

. The scientific name comes from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

words ''physa'', meaning bladder, and ''mitrion'', meaning little turban, which together refer to the urn-like calyptra. The common name is derived from its symmetrical, erect and urn-like capsules that lack peristomes, these features characterising the genus. They are commonly found on exposed soils that are often associated with locations that become very wet in the spring, such as along river banks or on alluvial mud. They occur from near sea level to about 2500 metres. The capsules mature over the winter and into the spring. Many species were once circumscribed within the species '' Physcomitrium pyriforme'', which over time has been broken up into many separate species based on variation of the

sporophyte A sporophyte () is the diploid multicellular stage in the life cycle of a plant or alga which produces asexual spores. This stage alternates with a multicellular haploid gametophyte phase. Life cycle The sporophyte develops from the zygote pr ...

and

gametophyte A gametophyte () is one of the two alternation of generations, alternating multicellular organism, multicellular phases in the life cycles of plants and algae. It is a haploid multicellular organism that develops from a haploid spore that has on ...

Selected species

*''

Physcomitrium australe ''Physcomitrium'' is a genus of mosses, commonly called urn moss, that includes about 80 species and has a cosmopolitan distribution. The scientific name comes from the Ancient Greek words ''physa'', meaning bladder, and ''mitrion'', meaning litt ...

'' *'' Physcomitrium californicum'' *'' Physcomitrium drummondii'' *'' Physcomitrium kellermanii'' *'' Physcomitrium megalocarpum'' *'' Physcomitrium pyriforme'' *'' Physcomitrium turbinatum''

References

Moss genera Funariales {{Bryophyte-stub