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Silky Dicranella Moss - Dicranella heteromalla
Other Names:
Silky Fork Moss
General Description
Plants: Acrocarpous. Growing in upright clumps of erect shoots, glossy deep green to yellow. Stems typically to 1 cm, seldom to 4 cm, occasionally forked (Crum & Anderson et al., 1981).
Leaves: Upright or curved and pointing toward one side of the stem, lance-shaped at the base and tapering slowly to a subula, 2-3 mm in length; leaf edges upright or curved up and inward, finely saw-toothed in the upper half (Crum & Anderson et al., 1981), the base somewhat enveloping the stem (Lawton 1971); costa extending beyond the apex and occupying most of the subula (Crum & Anderson et al., 1981).
Leaf Cells: Laminal cells smooth, not porose, somewhat short and quadrangular, decreased to 1-3 cell rows above mid-leaf in the narrow subula; alar cells not distinct (FNA 2007); costa in X-section with a small adaxial stereid band, a larger abaxial stereid band, and guide cells 5-9 (Lawton 1971).
Phenology
Fruit ripens in spring and summer (FNA 2007).
Range Comments
North American Range
Canada: BC and AB, MB e to NL and NS; USA: AK, WA to CA, ID, MT, NE s to TX, e half extending to the coast from MN s to LA (FNA 2007). Known in Montana from Cascade, Flathead, and Glacier Counties (Elliott & Pipp, 2016).
Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 4
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Relative Density
Recency
(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)
Habitat
Damp soil (Elliott & Pipp, 2016) in shady areas along trails (FNA 2007), roads, and wood edges. Elevation: low to 6560 feet or above (Lawton 1971).
Reproductive Characteristics
Dioicous. Perichaetial leaves enveloping the stem, longer than the vegetative leaves. Seta single, yellow, eventually turning darker, spiraled when dry, 5-15 mm tall. Capsule shy of vertical, occasionally tilted to level, frequently bowed, 1-1.5 mm in length, typically with slanted grooves, the opening also slanted, the neck narrowing; peristome single, with 16 teeth, the teeth red, papillose distally, lined or pitted proximally, 2-lobed to ca halfway down. Calyptra hood-like, concealing ca 1/2 of the capsule, falling away when the capsule ripens (FNA 2007).
Stewardship Responsibility
References
- Literature Cited AboveLegend:
View Online Publication
Crum, H.A. and L.E. Anderson. 1981. Mosses of Eastern North America. 2 volumes. Columbia University Press, New York. 1328 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. 2007. Flora of North America North of Mexico. Volume 27. Bryophytes: Mosses, Part 1. Oxford University Press, Inc., NY. xxi + 713 pp.
- Lawton, E. 1971. Moss Flora of the Pacific Northwest. Hattori Botanical Laboratory. Japan: Yamabuki-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo. 362 pages plus appendices.
- 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.
- Malcolm, B., N. Malcolm, J. Shevock, and D. Norris. 2009. California Mosses. Nelson, New Zealand: Micro-Optics Press. 430 pp.
- Smith, A.J.E. 1980. The Moss Flora of Britain and Ireland. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 705 pp.
- Web Search Engines for Articles on "Silky Dicranella Moss"
