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A Hook Moss - Drepanocladus sordidus
Other Names:
Drepanocladus sendtneri
General Description
Plants: Pleurocarpous. Growing in interwoven mats or clumps of upright shoots, green with gold tones, occasionally caked with lime. Stems creeping or upright (Lawton 1971), unbranched or pinnate (Smith 1980), more or less branching in 1 plane (FNA 2014), 3-25 mm in length, possessing a central strand (Lawton 1971); hyalodermis and paraphyllia wanting; rhizoids or their initials produced on the dorsal side of the costal attachment or on the stem, not forming woolly mats (FNA 2014).
Leaves: Stem leaves curved and pointing toward the same side of the stem, lance-shaped, sometimes also with ovate tendencies (Lawton 1971), steadily narrowing and forming a long acumen (Smith 1980), cupped, not pleated longitudinally, 2-5 mm in length; margins smooth, curving up and inward distally (Lawton 1971), unbordered (FNA 2014); base not extending down the stem (Smith 1980); costa terminating between mid-leaf and the leaf tip, wide at the bottom of the leaf. Branch leaves smaller (Lawton 1971).
Leaf Cells: Alar cells somewhat distinguished (Lawton 1971), less defined in larger plants, not reaching the costa, forming small auricles (Smith 1980), with some cells swollen, square to quadrangular, occasionally all yellow-walled, usually confined to 1 series; marginal cells in 1 layer (FNA 2014); medial leaf cells slender, longer than the basal cells; basal cells with walls porose (Lawton 1971) and thick, diamond-shaped (Smith 1980).
Diagnostic Characteristics
The similar Drepanocladus aduncus differs in color, having more yellowish rather than golden tones, the costa narrower at the base, and the leaves not so strongly curved (Lawton 1971).
Range Comments
Widespread in North America. Canada: BC, NT; USA: WY, CO, and in the Northeast (Lawton 1971). Known in Montana from Flathead, Madison, and Missoula Counties (Elliott and Moore 1989; Elliott 2016).
Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 1
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Relative Density
Recency
(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)
Habitat
Wet soil in mineral-rich wetlands (Elliott 2016), marshes and fens (Smith 1980); typically in calcareous habitats (Lawton 1971).
Reproductive Characteristics
Dioicous. Seldom fruiting. Capsule bowed, short of vertical (Smith 1980). Calyptra hood-like (Lawton 1971).
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. 2014. Flora of North America North of Mexico. Volume 28. Bryophytes: Mosses, Part 2. Oxford University Press, Inc., NY. xxi + 702 pp.- Lawton, E. 1971. Moss Flora of the Pacific Northwest. Hattori Botanical Laboratory. Japan: Yamabuki-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo. 362 pages plus appendices.
- Smith, A.J.E. 1980. The Moss Flora of Britain and Ireland. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 705 pp.
- 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.
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