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A Dry Rock Moss - Grimmia montana
Other Names:
A Black Rock Moss
General Description
Plant: Hoary cushions, yellow-green to dark blue-green (occasionally almost black). Stems 1.0-1.5 cm tall. X-S of stem with a weak central strand.
Leaf: Narrowly lanceolate, occasionally ovate-lanceolate, 1-2 x 0.3-0.6 mm, concave-keeled, and not plicate. Awn 0.2-1.3 mm long. Margins plane becoming incurved distally. Costa reaches apex.
Leaf Cells: Basal laminal cells near costa short to long-rectangular, straight, thick-walled. Basal laminal cells near margin quadrate to short-rectangular, straight, thick-walled, and not hyaline. Median laminal cells rounded, thick-walled. X-S: distal laminal cells and marginal cells are 2-layered; cells do not bulge. Costa X-S: semi-circular in outline (keeled).
Range Comments
British Columbia to California, Montana to Arizona; Greenland; Europe (Flowers 1973). Greenland; Canada: AB, BC, NU, ON, YT; USA: AK, AZ, CA, CO, ID, MT, NV, NM, OR, UT, WA, WY; Mexico; Europe; Africa (FNA 2007). In Montana: Carbon, Flathead, Glacier, Granite, Lake, Madison, Mineral, Missoula, Ravalli, and Sanders Counties (Elliott 2016).
Habitat
Exposed acidic granite and sandstone. Moderate to high elevations (2,900-13,200 feet). In the interior west of North America it is common on acidic rock in warm, dry areas.
Reproductive Characteristics
Dioicous. Seta is 2-3 mm tall, straight, and centrally attached to capsule. Capsules are occasionally found, exserted, yellow to brown, oblong-ovate. Stomata absent on capsule.
Gemmae absent on leaves.
References
- Literature Cited AboveLegend:
View Online Publication- 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. 2007. Flora of North America North of Mexico. Volume 27. Bryophytes: Mosses, Part 1. Oxford University Press, Inc., NY. xxi + 713 pp.
- Flowers, S. 1973. Mosses: Utah and the West. Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. 567 p.
- 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 Unpublished report.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.
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