Taxonomy
Family: Thuidiaceae
Synonymous with Abietinella abietina (Hedw.) M. Fleisch.
Habitat
Dry, calcareous habitats ranging from sandy to rocky or turfy soil.
Associates
Distribution
Circumboreal; from Greenland west to AK and south to AZ, CO, IA, IN, and VA.
Morphology
Dioicous, pleurocarpous moss. Stems rigid, suberect, 1-pinnate, to 12 cm long. Leaves dark green to yellowish or brownish; stem leaves erect when dry, erect-spreading when moist, to 1.8 mm long, ovate, acuminate, plicate, orange-yellow at the base; leaf cells unipapillose.
Notes
Found in very dry habitats. Other robust Thuidium spp. have 2-3 pinnate stems.
References
Crum, H. 2004. Mosses of the Great Lakes Forest, 4th ed.
The University of Michigan Herbarium. Ann Arbor, MI
Michael Hough © 2010 |