Image: Wikimedia Commons

moss

Division of plants

Species / taxontaxonQ25347

Also known as mosses · true mosses

Scientific name: Bryophyta
2
Sources
1.Stated in A higher level classification of all living organisms
2.Stated in Tropicos
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Rank: division
1
Sources
1.Stated in A higher level classification of all living organisms
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Parent taxon: Embryophyta
1
Sources
1.Stated in A higher level classification of all living organisms
View statement on Wikidata ↗
, Bryobiotina
1
Sources
1.Stated in TropicosRetrieved 2022-07-08
View statement on Wikidata ↗
, Setaphyta

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta sensu stricto. Bryophyta sensu lato may also refer to the parent group, bryophytes, which comprises liverworts, mosses, and hornworts. Mosses typically form dense green clumps or mats, often in damp or shady locations. The individual plants are usually composed of simple leaves that are generally only one cell thick, attached to a stem that may be branched or unbranched and has only a limited role in conducting water and nutrients. Although some species have conducting tissues, these are generally poorly developed and structurally different from similar tissue found in vascular plants. Mosses do not have seeds and after fertilisation develop sporophytes with unbranched stalks topped with single capsules containing spores. They are typically 0.2–10 cm (0.1–3.9 in) tall, though some species are much larger. Dawsonia superba, the tallest moss in the world, can grow to 60 cm (24 in) in height. There are approximately 12,000 species.

Overview

All data

85 statements · 28% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Different from: bryophyte
Started: 340000th millennium BCE
Said to be the same as: Musci

On other databases

66 identifiers linking moss across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

28%

externally sourced

Source last edited September 14, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

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AIDB. (2026). moss (Q25347). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/moss-Q25347