Montana Field Guide

Plants: Acrocarpous. Growing in deep (Crum & Anderson et al. 1981), crowded clumps of erect shoots, shiny, pale green, sometimes with yellow tinges (FNA 2007) or brown (Crum & Anderson et al. 1981). Stems 2-10 cm tall (FNA 2007), sometimes to 15 cm (Lawton 1971); rhizoids russet and covering stem with woolly matting (FNA 2007).

Leaves: Loosely upright near the stem and sometimes the apex infolded more and slightly bent or twisted when dry, spreading slightly (seldom spreading over 45 degrees) and sometimes somewhat curved and pointing toward one side of the stem when moist (Smith 1980); lance-shaped below, narrowing above to form a tube-like subula (FNA 2007), cupped below, 3-5 mm in length, 0.3-0.5 mm in width (Lawton 1971); margins smooth, seldom finely toothed at the leaf tip; costa extending to the apex or slightly beyond, smooth or a tiny bit rough on the dorsal side, with no dorsal crests near the apex (FNA 2007).

Leaf Cells: Lamina 1cell- layer thick, the cells smooth and the walls bulging a little between cells; upper laminal cells nearly square to short and quadrangular, occasionally of odd shapes, the angles smoothed, thick-walled and not porose; lower laminal cells narrow and longer, porose; alar cells distinct, inflated (FNA 2007), brownish with yellow tones (Crum & Anderson et al. 1981), the region not reaching the nerve, 1 or 2 cell-layers thick; costa in X-section with ventral and dorsal stereid bands not reaching the apex (FNA 2007) but reaching beyond mid-leaf (Lawton 1971), guide cells in 1 row, the cells of the ventral and dorsal epidermal layers typically not distinct from those of the stereid bands, occasionally with several cells of both faces larger (FNA 2007).

Fruit ripens in summer (FNA 2007).

Stones, soil, soil overlying stones, rock shelves (FNA 2007), on bare, rocky inclines of alpine tundra (Crum & Anderson et al. 1981), in unsheltered areas (Lawton 1971), humus (Elliott 2016), seldom rotting wood, occasionally wetlands (FNA 2007).

Dioicous. Inner perichaetial bracts enveloping the stem, narrowing suddenly above to a short acumen. Seta yellow or with red or brown tinges, 15-20 mm tall, spiraled when dry, single. Capsule close to vertical and sometimes slightly bowed, ochre, lined when dry (FNA 2007), the urn 1.2-1.8 mm in length (Lawton 1971); peristome of 16 teeth, separated ca halfway down into 2 lobes (seldom 3), russet, with papillae above. Calyptra hood-like, hairless, sheltering much of the capsule, falling away easily (FNA 2007).