Montana Field Guide

Plants: Medium to large in size, green, brown, a mix of green and red (seldom nearly all red) (FNA 2014), tufted. Stems 3-16 cm (Lawton 1971), more-or-less pinnately branched, lacking central strand; shoot tips frequently hooked; rhizoids near or at point of leaf attachment; upper cells of axillary hairs hyaline (FNA 2014).

Leaves: Stem leaves ovate, concave, distally bending into a sudden strong curve from a straight base, distinctly or occasionally weakly pleated, 0.6-1 mm in width, with transverse bands in the sub-basal area and occasionally larger areas of the leaf red; base more-or-less upright, a little narrowed at the insertion (slightly falcate), not extending down stem; apex tapered to a short-to-long point; margins entire or finely-toothed near tip (FNA 2014), flat below, rolled inward and upward above; costa single, extending beyond mid-leaf; branch leaves smaller but otherwise resembling stem leaves (Lawton 1971).

Leaf Cells: Alar region not distinct; medial laminal cell walls thin or sometimes a little thickened (incrassate), with or without pores (FNA 2014), longer than the basal cells (Lawton 1971).

The stem leaves that are (usually) strongly-pleated, with the abrupt curve distally and the upright base, make this species readily recognizable (FNA 2014).

Organic soil in mineral-rich wetlands (Elliott 2016).

Dioicous (FNA 2014). The capsule is long, the operculum cone-shaped, and the calyptra shaped like a monk’s hood and split along one side (cucullate) (Lawton 1971).