Montana Field Guide

Plants: Pleurocarpous (Vitt 1988), growing in shallow mats (FNA 2014), green or green with yellow tones (Lawton 1971) to almost white, glossy. Stems prostrate or seldom upwardly inclined and bowing near the ends, more-or-less pinnate (FNA 2014) to erratically branched (Lawton 1971), somewhat catkin-like; branches to 10 mm in length; hyalodermis wanting and central strand in attendance; pseudoparaphyllia leafy, deltoid with a long acumen (FNA 2014).

Stem Leaves: Lying next to the stem when dry, spreading a little when damp, almost straight (FNA 2014) to slightly curved (Lawton 1971), cupped, a little pleated, lance-shaped with ovate tendencies, slowly tapering to the long acumen, 1.3-2 mm in length, approximately 0.45 mm in width; leaf edges flat, occasionally a little rolled up and inward above; costa paired and short; differing somewhat from the branch leaves, the branch leaves shorter (to 1.4 mm in length) (FNA 2014).

Leaf Cells: Laminal cells fine-walled (Lawton 1971), not papillose (FNA 2014); median cells slender and long (Lawton 1971); alar cells nearly square to short and oblong, distinct from adjacent cells, the alar region with 8-10 cells next to the leaf edge in several to 8 series (FNA 2014).

Fruit ripens autumn through winter (FNA 2014).

On bark or roots of trees. Occurring from low elevations to about 9840 feet (Lawton 1971).

Autoicous. Interior perichaetial leaves tapering to a subula. Seta somewhat yellow or red, 10-18 mm tall. Capsule upright, 1.6-2.2 mm in length, straight, not shrunken proximal to the opening (FNA 2014), sometimes slightly furrowed when dry (Lawton 1971); operculum cone-shaped with the short tip slanted; exostome teeth slender, a little papillose above (FNA 2014); endostome processes very slender, taller than the teeth (FNA 2014) to only slightly shorter (Lawton 1971), papillose above, without openings. Calyptra hairless and draping hood-like (FNA 2014).