Riccia fluitans L.

Japanese: ウキゴケ(浮苔) - ウキゴケ（英語表記）Riccia fluitans L.

An aquatic moss belonging to the Riccia family. It is widely distributed worldwide, and grows in ponds and rice fields throughout Japan, but in recent years it has become quite rare in many places, possibly due to the effects of pesticides. The plant is leaf-like and 1-3 cm long. It grows by repeatedly bifurcating, but the rear part gradually rots, causing the branches to separate and increasing the number of individuals. There are seven species of the Riccia genus in Japan, and all but Riccia appear on the soil of fields and rice paddies mainly from autumn to winter. The sporophyte of this genus has the simplest structure among mosses, lacking either a stalk or a foot, and the capsule is buried within the thallus.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

ウキゴケ科に属する水生の苔類。全世界に広く分布し，日本でも全国の池や水田に生じるが，農薬の影響のためか，近年は各地でかなりまれになった。植物体は葉状で長さ1～3cm。二叉（にさ）分枝を繰り返しながら生長するが，後方からしだいに腐って枝が分離して個体数をふやす。ウキゴケ属Ricciaは日本に7種あるが，ウキゴケ以外は，主として秋から冬にかけて畑や水田の土上に出現する。この属の胞子体はコケ植物の中で最も単純な構造をもち，蒴柄（さくへい）も足もなく，蒴は葉状体の中に埋もれている。

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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