Montana Field Guide

Plants: Medium-sized to occasionally large when growing underwater, green, red, red with purple, deep brown, or black tones (FNA 2014). Stems 3-10 cm (Lawton 1971), meagerly and erratically branched or occasionally somewhat pinnate, the shoot tips not hooked; hyalodermis fully formed (FNA 2014).

Leaves: Stem leaves ovate or more lance-shaped, progressively or seldom suddenly tapering to the apex (FNA 2014), somewhat abruptly curved apically and facing toward one side of the stem, concave above and plane below, not pleated, 2-4 mm in length, 0.5-0.8 mm in width; margins smooth; base not extending along stem (Lawton 1971); apex short- to long-acuminate; costa solitary, extending past mid-leaf (FNA 2014). Exterior bracts surrounding the archegonia lack a costa; the inner bracts are up to 4 mm in length, have smooth margins, a long slender apex, and a costa that reaches to a little past mid-bract (Lawton 1971).

Leaf Cells: Alar cells 2-10, highly inflated, thin-walled; medial laminal cell ends usually narrowly short- to long-tapering, seldom rounded or nearly square (FNA 2014), not pitted (Lawton 1971); basal cells shorter than medial cells, the walls usually pitted (Lawton 1971).

Limprichtia revolvens and Scorpidium cossonii are often confused but may be distinguished by the following: S. cossonii is dioicous and has shorter medial laminal cells with squared to shortly-tapered narrow ends; L. revolvens is autoicous and has short- to long-tapered narrow ends (FNA 2014).

Mineral-rich soil and peat in calcareous fens and other wetlands (Elliott 2016). Low to high elevations (FNA 2014).

Autoicous (FNA 2014). Seta 3-4 cm in length. Capsule bowed, slightly ribbed; theca 2-2.5 mm in length; operculum approximately 0.7 mm in length, cone-shaped (Lawton 1971).