Fissidens adianthoides, the maidenhair pocketmoss, is a North American moss in the family Fissidentaceae. It was first described by Johann Hedwig in 1801. The Nitinaht First Nations of Vancouver Island have used maidenhair moss to bandage wounds. It was named by the Anglo-Saxons based on its resemblance to pubic hair.
Description
The plant itself is about 85 x 5mm.
The features that distinguish Fissidens adianthoides from other similar species are by its "unistratose, smooth laminal cells, a lighter band of marginal laminal cells, and its short perichaetial stems." They are also arranged in double vertical rows on the stem in the same plane and attachment.
Genus Fissidens
thumb|Fissidens adianthoides peristomal teeth.
Fissidentaceae is an acrocarpous family that is made up of haplolepideous mosses and consists of one genus called Fissidens. Fissidens comprises about 440 species.
The peristome teeth of Fissidens are morphologically identical to the members of the family Dicranaceae.
In the study, "Molecular phylogeny of the genus Fissidens (Fissidentaceae, Bryophyta) and a refinement of the infrageneric classification", they have constructed a phylogenetic tree of 50 Fissidens species using DNA sequence of the rbcL and rps4 gene. It was based on the ancestral similarities between the peristomal teeth, limbidium and chromosome number. Based on their findings, three subgenera were created: Pachyfissidens, Neoamblyothallia, and Fissidens. The subgenus Fissidens was made up of five sections: Fissidens, Polypodiopsis, Aloma, Areofissidens, and Semilimbidium. It is widely distributed across North America.
United States: AK, AL, AR, CA, CT, DE, FL, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, NJ, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, TN, TX, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, WY
Life cycle
thumb|The process of sporic meiosis.
Fissidens adianthoides has sporic meiosis as well as asexual reproduction. Sporic meiosis is the alternation of heteromorphic generations and is characterized by each phase having a different free-living phase: one is the gametophyte which is usually haploid while the other is a sporophyte which is often diploid. Additionally, sporic meiosis is a type of life cycle where meiosis results in spores not gametes. This is when the organs of the plant such as leaves, shoots, leaf apices, and branches detach from the parent shoot. As a result, the moss is able to regenerate from these detached areas and continues to survive.
Uses
F. adianthoides was used in the past for bandaging wounds. It was noted that the First Natives of Nitinaht in Vancouver Island, Canada used this moss as well.
The genus Fissidens was used in several Asian countries like Bolivia as an antibacterial remedy for sore throats or other bacterial infections.
Currently, however, it serves no important economic or commercial usage.
Conservation
Its Nature Serve conservation status is G5 which means its secure.