#3534 - Phaeoceros sp. - Hornwort
'Yellow-horn'.
Hornworts are a Division of non-vascular land plants with an elongated horn-like diploid sporophyte at some points of the year, and a flattened green gametophyte stage that only contains one copy of the genome. Liverworts and mosses are similarly dominated by the gametophyte stage. Spores in this genus are yellow - hence the name.
Hornworts may be found worldwide, usually in damp or humid areas. Some are weedy in gardens and fields, and large tropical and sub-tropical species of Dendroceros may grow as epiphytes. Uniquely among land plants, some hornworts have an organelle and biochemistry that can concentrate CO2 to over 50 times atmospheric levels. Many have slime-filled cavities that are colonised by nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria like Nostoc.
The total number of species is uncertain - more than 300 names have been published, but the number of actually valid taxa may be a third of that.
Julimar State Forest, WA.