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Short-beaked Aloe Moss - Aloina brevirostris
General Description
Plants: Single or in thin turfs (patches of erect shoots), 0.5-2 mm (FNA 2007); stems occasionally branched (Lawton 1971).
Leaves: Tongue-shaped (lingulate) to nearly circular, very concave, 0.5-1.5 mm; margins smooth, distally somewhat wavy to fine-toothed; apex margin curved inwards to nearly open. Costa strong (FNA 2007), usually over half the leaf’s width (Lawton 1971), extending nearly to the leaf apex (subpercurrent), with filaments of 2-5 cells covering the costa as well as part of the adjacent 2-layered area of the blade (2007).
Leaf Cells: Basal laminal cells thin-walled and elongate; median laminal cells thick-walled and transversely elongate; costa filament cells nearly spherical to cylindrical, thin-walled, the terminal cell of each filament nearly spherical to almost conical and thickened at apex (FNA 2007).
Phenology
Capsules maturing (March-) May-August (FNA 2007).
Diagnostic Characteristics
A. brevirostris and A. rigida are similar. However, A. brevirostris is synoicous and the operculum conic. A. rigida is dioicous and the operculum long-beaked (FNA 2007).
Range Comments
Greenland; Canada: AB, BC, MB, NT, NU, ON, YT; USA: AK, MT; Europe; Asia (Siberia) (FNA 2007). In Montana: Cascade, Flathead, and Lincoln Counties (Elliott 2016).
Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 7
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Relative Density
Recency
(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)
Habitat
Found on calcareous soil and on overturned tree bases. May also be a pioneer species on roadcuts and riverbanks. Low to moderate elevations (Elliott 2016).
Reproductive Characteristics
Synoicous (FNA 2007). Seta 10-13 mm (Lawton 1971). Capsule urn 1-2 mm in length, cylindric; operculum conic; peristome twisted (FNA 2007).
Stewardship Responsibility
References
- Literature Cited AboveLegend:
View Online Publication- 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, W. M., and Nancy Malcolm. 2000. Mosses and Other Bryophytes: An Illustrated Glossary. Nelson, New Zealand: Micro-Optics Press.
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