Buxbaumia, commonly called bug moss, is a small genus composed of 14 species in the family Buxbaumiaceae. Buxbaumia was named after Johann Christian Buxbaum, the German botanist who discovered it in 1712. With the gametophyte extremely reduced, Buxbaumia is never really noticed until the sporophytes appear.

Sporophyte Appearance
The setae are elongate, stout and rigid, reddish, warty-papillose; capsules oblique to horizontal from a short, stout, erect neck, ovate or narrowly oblong-ovate, narrow at the mouth, flat or concave on the upper side, swollen on the lower, the upper and lower surfaces sometimes separated by a distinct or indistinct rim (Crum 1985). A mass of enlarged, ovoid or globose cells between the epidermis and the peristome aid in dehiscence by acting as a bladder, drops of rain hitting the flat-topped capsules emit spores in puffs.

Distribution: Temperate hemisphere with a few tropical, several scattered in the southern hemisphere

Habitat: Grows in nutrient poor soils with some organics or on rotting logs. Buxbaumia plays a pioneering role in succession, occupying barren, disturbed habitats. It is quickly crowded out by larger competitors.

Literature Cited
Crum, Howard. 1983. Mosses of the Great Lakes Forest. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Schofield, W.B. 1985. Introduction to Bryology. Macmillan Publishing Company.

Written by Kristen Keyes 2003