Ikubigoke - Ikubigoke

Japanese: イクビゴケ - いくびごけ

A small moss of the family Cladocephala. It is distributed in East Asia, and in Japan it is commonly found in mountainous areas south of Honshu, where it grows in colonies on the ground. The stems are very short, only a few mm tall. The leaves are radially arranged, lanceolate, and spread out when wet, but strongly curl when dry. It is dioecious, and the female bracts embrace the capsule and stand upright, with their central vein protruding like a needle. The capsule is large and broadly ovate, with a clear dorsoventral shape, and the ventral surface swells greatly. It has the unusual feature that when pressure is applied to the back of the capsule, tiny spores are ejected like bullets.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

キセルゴケ科の小型の蘚類。東アジアに分布し，日本では本州以南の山地に普通に産し，土上に群生する。茎はごく短く，高さ数mm。葉は放射状に配列し，披針形，湿ると広がるが乾くと強く巻縮する。雌雄異株で，雌苞葉は蒴（さく）を抱いて直立し，その中央脈が針のように突出する。蒴は大きく広卵形，明瞭な背腹性を示し，腹面が大きくふくれる。蒴の背面に圧力がかかると，微小な胞子が弾丸のように噴出するという珍しい特徴をもっている。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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