Montana Field Guide

Plants: Acrocarpous, growing in loose clumps or cushions of upright shoots (FNA 2014), green to deep green (Lawton 1971) or brownish (Crum & Anderson et al., 1981). Stems sometimes reaching 23 mm in height (FNA 2014), frequently forked (Lawton 1971).

Leaves: Straight, upright, loosely appressed, and a little twisted when dry, spreading, sometimes broadly, when damp, 2-3.5 mm in length, lance-shaped with ovate tendencies, tapering to the narrowly acute apex, forming an acumen, apiculus, or tooth-like point; leaf edges smooth, rolled back to proximal of the leaf apex (FNA 2014); costa subpercurrent (Lawton 1971).

Leaf Cells: Upper laminal cells chlorophyllous (Crum & Anderson et al., 1981), arranged in 1 cell-layer, somewhat round and isodiametric, with cone-shaped or 2-lobed papillae over each lumen (FNA 2014), with thick walls (Crum & Anderson et al., 1981); lower laminal cells quadrangular and long with fine walls, slightly knobby at the attachment (FNA 2014).

Stone, fissures in boulders, on the bottoms of trees, in forests (FNA 2014); calcareous habitats or not (Crum & Anderson et al., 1981).

Autoicous. Seta twisted, occasionally reaching 1.4 mm in height (FNA 2014). Capsule 2- 2.2 mm in length (Crum & Anderson et al., 1981), partially emerged (halfway or occasionally over 3/4) from the perichaetial bracts, with 8 prominent longitudinal ribs; stomata sunken and partially covered by adjacent cells; prostome not present; exostome of 8 teeth bent back and downward, thickly papillose, with fine longitudinal lines above (FNA 2014) and sometimes with slight openings at the apices (Crum & Anderson et al., 1981); endostome processes 8 or 16 and well-formed. Calyptra cone-shaped, sheltering the full length of the capsule, with papillose hairs (FNA 2014).

Specialized vegetative reproduction sometimes occurring on the leaves via gemmae (FNA 2014).