Montana Field Guide

Plants: Loose to crowded tufts, silvery green to silver above, yellow or brown underneath (Flowers 1973). Stems 0.2-1 cm, reddish, appearing catkin- to bud-like from congested, appressed leaves, branched with innovations (Crum 1981). Acrocarpous.

Leaves: Similar moist or dry, slightly concave, appressed, crowded and overlapping, 0.3-1 (-1.2) mm in length, broadly ovate to ovate-lanceolate (FNA 2014). Apiculous short and recurved (Vitt 1988) to almost no apiculus. Apex acute to more broadly rounded, and distal ¼ to ½ of leaf usually hyaline (seldom all green). Margins flat or (rarely) slightly recurved proximally, not forming a border. Costa reddish near leaf insertion, vanishing before reaching apex (FNA 2014).

Leaf Cells: Basal cells subquadrate to short-rectangular, reddish. Distal cells rhomboidal (Crum 1981) to short- or elongate-hexagonal (FNA 2014), hyaline, with delicate pellucid walls, becoming more thickly-walled and yellow below (Crum 1981). (Plants lack chlorophyll in distal leaf cells, causing silvery appearance, Vitt 1988.)

Dry and open disturbed areas, such as paths, old fields, sidewalk crevices, railroad beds, sand and gravel, also on dry logs, stream banks, and sand dunes (Smith 2004). Possibly the most ubiquitous moss on Earth, but largely absent from its native undisturbed tropical habitat. Low to high elevations (0-13,000 feet) (FNA 2014).

Dioicous. Setae 1-2 cm in length, brown to reddish-brown. Capsules 2-3 mm long, typically red (FNA 2014), rare in all habitats (Vitt 1988).

Asexual reproduction by bulbils in leaf axils (FNA 2014).

Able to handle high levels of air pollution. Possibly nitrogen-loving as it is found on urine-infused soil such as around campsites and dog kennels (Crum 1981).