Montana Field Guide

Plants: Plants in thin mats, green to chartreuse. Stems freely and erratically branched (FNA 2014), 1-3 cm in length, frequently intermingling; the branches ranging from prostrate to upright (Flowers 1973); central strand present, consisting of diminutive thin-walled cells (FNA 2014).

Leaves: When dry, leaves upright to patent; when moist, patent to spreading (Flowers 1973); slightly concave, ovate to more lanceolate; margins plane, ranging from smooth to serrulate or with larger teeth, lacking a distinctive border; apex acuminate, remaining ungrooved; costa ranging from less than 1/5 to almost the entire leaf length; alar area extending from margin a little over half the distance to the leaf attachment. Stem and branch leaves resembling each other (FNA 2014); stem leaves 0.7-1 mm in length, 0.2-0.4 mm in width; branch leaves a little smaller in both dimensions (Lawton 1971).

Leaf Cells: Basal cells usually somewhat square (Lawton 1971); medial laminal cells 3-5:1, with somewhat thick, sturdy walls, lacking pores; marginal cells 1-layered; alar cells ranging from nearly square to transversely long-rectangular (FNA 2014).

Amblystegium serpens var. juratzkanum is sometimes recognized as a separate taxon based on characteristics of the alar cells and leaf stance (FNA 2014).

Tree trunks, rotten wood, and soil in wet to dry habitats (Elliott 2016). Amblystegium species are terrestrial; they may live in swampy areas, but not in aquatic or subaquatic places. Elevation: 0-9840 feet (FNA 2014), and recently recorded at 10,860 feet (Kosovich-Anderson 2015).

Autoicous (FNA 2014), often freely producing fruit (Flowers 1973). Seta reddish, 10-25 mm tall. Capsule arcuate, 15-20 mm with a visible neck; operculum cone-shaped (FNA 2014).