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Schleicher's Ptychostomum Moss - Ptychostomum schleicheri
Other Names:
Bryum schleicheri
General Description
Plants: Acrocarpous, in loose to crowded turfs, copper, light yellow, or green with yellow tones. Stems 3-6(-10) cm. Fertile stems crowded with leaves at apex (comose) (FNA 2014).
Leaves: Buttery or yellow-copper in color, densely packed, mature leaves overlapping somewhat, flexuose and contracted when dry, widely ovate, faintly or quite concave, 2-4(-5) mm; leaf base faintly or not at all extending along stem, green; margins flat or rolled under (revolute) proximally, flat distally, the limbidium of 1-3 rows relatively well-defined and 2-stratose; apex at a sharp angle; costa extending to just before to just beyond the apex, the awn narrow when present (FNA 2014).
Leaf Cells: Distal and medial laminal cells 2:1, with fine walls; proximal cells quadrangular, 3:1 (FNA 2014).
Phenology
Capsules ripen July-August (FNA 2014).
Diagnostic Characteristics
Bryum arcticum is uncharacteristic of Ptychostomum in some ways. It resembles Mniaceae in its very broad laminal cells and the marked leaf ledge that remains on the stem following leaf removal (FNA 2014).
Species of the Ptychostomum subgenus are unique with their 2-layered leaf borders and, at the leaf base, the uncommonly colorful cell sap. Colors range from incandescent purple to red, light red to orange (FNA 2014).
Range Comments
Boreal-interrupted (Belland 1998). Distribution in western North America: Greenland; Canada: AB, BC, NT, NU, YT; USA: AK, CA, ID, MT, OR, WA; Eurasia (FNA 2014). In Montana: Flathead and Glacier Counties (Elliott 2016).
Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 3
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Relative Density
Recency
(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)
Habitat
Wet soil in alpine and subalpine habitats (Elliott 2016). .
Reproductive Characteristics
Dioicous (FNA 2014). Seta 20-30(-40) mm, brown with red tones, narrow, straight or a little contorted. Capsule 3-5 mm, shaped like a top or pear, ochre with a yellow mouth; operculum cone-shaped; exostome teeth translucent near the top, yellow near the base (FNA 2014).
References
- Literature Cited AboveLegend:
View Online Publication
Belland, R. J. 1998. The Rare Mosses of Canada - A Review and First Listing. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. 91 pp.- Elliott, J.C. and A.K. Pipp. 2018. A Checklist of Montana Mosses (1880-2018). Updated 3 January, 2020. Montana Natural Heritage Program, Helena, Montana. 73 pp.
- Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. 2014. Flora of North America North of Mexico. Volume 28. Bryophytes: Mosses, Part 2. Oxford University Press, Inc., NY. xxi + 702 pp.
- Additional ReferencesLegend: View Online Publication
Do you know of a citation we're missing?- Elliot, J. C. 1993. Second checklist of Montana mosses. Unpublished report. U.S. Forest Service, Region 1. Missoula, MT. 45 pp.
- Lawton, E. 1971. Keys for the Identification of the Mosses on the Pacific Northwest. Reprinted from 'Moss Flora of the Pacific Northwest'. Published as Supplement No. 2 of the Journal of the Hattori Botanical Laboratory. Nichinan, Miyazaki, Japan. 66 pp.
- Lawton, E. 1971. Moss Flora of the Pacific Northwest. Hattori Botanical Laboratory. Japan: Yamabuki-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo. 362 pages plus appendices.
- Malcolm, W. M., and Nancy Malcolm. 2000. Mosses and Other Bryophytes: An Illustrated Glossary. Nelson, New Zealand: Micro-Optics Press.
- Web Search Engines for Articles on "Schleicher's Ptychostomum Moss"
