# Emersed grown Moss ID (2 types)



## S-KGray (Nov 29, 2008)

Here are two types of moss grown emersed I need help identifying:

First one (_Taxiphyllum barbieri_ aka Java Moss?):

































Second one (_Vesicularia_ sp.?):

































Thanks!


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## miremonster (Mar 26, 2006)

I think You are right with the genera Taxiphyllum and Vesicularia, but ID of the species is difficult. Are they collected in the wild, or were they already aquarium mosses? Grown emersed, bryologists (e.g. Prof. B.C. Tan in Singapore) could ID them more exactly than submerged ones because in the submerged form the ID features (mainly microscopic ones) may be derived.


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## S-KGray (Nov 29, 2008)

The first I believe was sold to me submersed as java moss, just trying to verify. The second I think I received as Christmas moss, need to check if I still have any records. This was a while ago when I had them in a tank I broke down.

I just started these submersed again. I may still have some submersed of the first moss, don't think I have the second.


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## miremonster (Mar 26, 2006)

T. barbieri is surely the most common aquarium Taxiphyllum - and aquarium moss at all, so it's quite likely that the 1st moss is T. barbieri indeed. But I'm afraid only bryologists could verify it. E.g. I know a Taxiphyllum from Thailand with the information that it was IDed by Prof. Tan as T. taxirameum - I can't tell it apart from T. barbieri superficially.

It seems that also regularly branched species others than Vesicularia montagnei are sold as Xmas Moss, but I don't know what species they are.
The pics 3 and 4 here: http://www.flowgrow.de/pflanzen/Vesicularia-montagnei-Christmas-Moss-218.html show an emersed moss that should be V. montagnei, I've obtained it as "Java moss" and checked it with a microscope, the leaves match the pics and description of V. montagnei here:
http://www.aquamoss.net/Christmas-Moss/Christmas-Moss.htm
http://sea.nus.edu.sg/aquatic-mosses.pdf
=> roundish leaves with rather short, sharp tip and broad thin-walled cells. But submerged, the features are rather like in V. dubyana...


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## S-KGray (Nov 29, 2008)

Thank you very much for the info and links. I will see if I can get more details about these mosses. I also have a couple other mosses that I collected in the wild which I didn't take pictures of yet.


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## S-KGray (Nov 29, 2008)

Here are some pics of them in the spot where they are growing, need to get better pics of the _Vesicularia_.

_Taxiphyllum_:

















































_Vesicularia_:


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