Moss in snowbank

Near the Adirondack Loj. The brown bits are sporophytes. These are distinct individuals from the green gametophytes that support them. The multiple green stems [not really visible], however, may all be shoots of the same individual gametophyte. Unlike flowering plants, in mosses only the sporophytes are diploid (ie, have a double set of chromosomes). The sporophytes produce haploid spores. A spore will be scattered on the wind and may grow up into a gametophyte (all the green bits). Gametophytes produce [haploid] eggs and/or sperm; the sperm swim through water to fertilize the eggs, which remain attached to the gametophyte. The fertilized embryo is diploid and grows into a sporophyte. January 2007