Friday, August 27, 2010

Adventures in a subtropical rainforest: Part 5

In the final post of this series, some mosses of the subtropical rainforest. Mosses are plants that evolved well before the flowering plants (angiosperms), conifers and ferns. They have lack a vascular system, which means that they require constant moisture to avoid desiccation. Mosses reproduce by way of spores rather than seeds and have a fascinating life cycle in which haploid and diploid generations alternate.

Moss on rainforest floor

Moss on forest floor


Moss on trunk




















Before I sign off from this spate of posts, here's a mystery. These worms, which essentially resembled earthworms (phylum Annelida) were at around chest height. They appeared to be dead, but recently so. Any thoughts as to what they were doing there, and how they got there? I'm flummoxed!

Worms on trunk
Why am I here?

3 comments:

Denis Wilson said...

Hi Margaret
I have added your "My Growing Passion" to my list of Aussie Nature Bloggers featured on my blog side bar.
Cheers
Denis Wilson

Margaret said...

Excellent! Thanks, Denis. :D

Luuuuuua said...

f interesant blog,bravo