About Takakia lepidozioides S.Hatt. & Inoue
Takakia lepidozioides S.Hatt. & Inoue can be recognized by several key traits. It produces tiny, bifid leaves where each leaf segment is only a few cells wide, has noticeable rhizomous shoots, and grows long leafless stolon shoots that help the species colonize bare areas. A very unusual characteristic of this species is the complete absence of male plants; it is thought that male T. lepidozioides went extinct during an ice age. This species is a highly adaptive moss. Over the last 65 million years, Earth’s climate has undergone extreme changes, and several molecular adaptations have been observed in T. lepidozioides.
