Abstract: Asexual reproduction plays an important role in the life cycle of bryophytes. Usually, mosses complete their asexual reproduction by different diaspores. The morphology of asexual diaspore has been commonly used for delimiting sterile mosses. In the present paper, asexual diaspores of 38 gemmiferous mosses were observed under light microscope. The results showed that the asexual diaspores have evolved several times independently in different moss lineages. The morphology of asexual diaspore is generally stable within species, and is closely related to its growing position and branching mode of gametophyte, but not to phylogenetic positions of the plants and their habitats. The color of diaspore is determined by the thickness of the diasporal wall and its ornamentation on the surface. In addition, the asexual diaspores often coexist with rhizoids or protonemata. In this study, asexual diaspores include protonemal gemmae and gemmae (laminar gemmae, costal gemmae, stem gemmae), bulbils, rhizoidal tubers and rhizoidal gemmae. Among them, protonemal gemmae and gemmae are the commonest asexual diaspores.

Key words: Asexual diaspores