At the other end is a capsule in which meiosis occurs to form spores. The archegonium grows around the developing sporophyte for a while but becomes separated from the gametophyte and is carried up to form a cap or calyptra over the sporangium. Curiously, the sporangia of some mosses have stomata much like those on the leaves of vascular plants. The calyptra is lost when the sporangium is mature as is the operculum or lid on the end of the capsule. A spore germinates to produce a filamentous protonema which sooner or later produces buds that grow into new gametophytes.
Mosses require abundant water for growth and reproduction.
They can tolerate dry spells by drying out or,in the case of mosses like Sphagnum , by holding huge amounts of water in dead cells in the leaves. Because of its ability to soak up blood and its relative freedom from bacterial contamination Sphagnum was used in dressings. The moss itself is used in some horticultural media and it is an important source of peat. This is a sign that I saw at a rest stop on I-90 in Wisconsin. Polytrichum commune one of the larger mosses with mature sporophytes If you have tried to grow a lawn in a shady location you have probably been troubled by mosses as weeds.