- published: 10 May 2015
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Mosses are small flowerless plants that typically grow in dense green clumps or mats, often in damp or shady locations. The individual plants are usually composed of simple, one-cell thick leaves, attached to a stem that may be branched or unbranched and has only a limited role in conducting water and nutrients. Although some species have vascular tissue this is generally poorly developed and structurally different from similar tissue found in other plants. They do not have seeds and after fertilisation develop sporophytes (unbranched stalks topped with single capsules containing spores). They are typically 0.2–10 cm (0.1–3.9 in) tall, though some species are much larger, like Dawsonia, the tallest moss in the world, which can grow to 50 cm (20 in) in height.
Mosses are commonly confused with lichens, hornworts, and liverworts. Lichens may superficially look like mosses, and have common names that include the word "moss" (e.g., "reindeer moss" or "iceland moss"), but are not related to mosses. Mosses, hornworts, and liverworts are collectively called "bryophytes". Bryophytes share the property of having the haploid gametophyte generation as the dominant phase of the life cycle. This contrasts with the pattern in all "vascular" plants (seed plants and pteridophytes), where the diploid sporophyte generation is dominant.
Randy Gene Moss (born February 13, 1977) is a former American football wide receiver who played 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He holds the NFL single-season touchdown reception record (23 in 2007), the NFL single-season touchdown reception record for a rookie (17 in 1998), and is second on the NFL all-time regular season touchdown reception list with 156. He is widely considered among the greatest wide receivers of all time.
Moss played college football for Marshall University, and twice earned All-America honors. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the 1998 NFL Draft, where he played for seven years before a trade in 2005 brought him to the Oakland Raiders. On April 29, 2007, Moss was traded to the New England Patriots for a fourth-round draft pick. On October 6, 2010, Moss returned to the Vikings in a trade from the Patriots. However, his stint in Minnesota was short-lived, as he was waived by the team less than a month later, and claimed by the Tennessee Titans. After sitting out the 2011 season, Moss signed a one-year contract with the 49ers for the 2012 season then opted to retire prior to the 2013 season.