Taxonomy
Family: Hylocomiaceae
Habitat
Dry or moist woods on soil, humus, or logs.
Associates
Distribution
Circumboreal. Labrador west to AK, south to FL, AR, MT, and CA.
Morphology
Coarse, shaggy moss occurring in loose tufts. Stems decumbent or erect, to 20 cm, irregularly branched and wide-spreading; stems and branches orange-red. Leaves gradually tapered to a broad, flat tip, erect or spreading, irregularly plicate, orange where inserted; back of leaves roughened by projecting cell ends (prorulose); costa double. Seta 1.5-4.5 cm long; capsules red-brown, horizontal, asymmetric, short-necked.
Notes
The common name is one suggested by Crum. Unfortunately most mosses do not have common names in general use, likely because most people can not tell one moss from another.
References
Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.
The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY
Swink, F. and G.
Wilhelm. 1994. Plants of the Chicago Region.
Indiana Academy of Science. The Morton Arboretum. Lisle, Illinois.
USDA, NRCS. 2002.
The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov).
National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.
Michael Hough © 2009 |