Flora of North America species comparison

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Campylopus introflexus

Campylopus carolinae

heath star moss

Carolina campylopus moss
Habit Plants 0.5–5 cm, in dense mats, yellowish to olive green, tomentum present or almost absent. Plants usually less than 1 cm, in loose mats, dark green to brownish green or blackish; leaves erect-patent; stems sparsely tomentose.
Leaves

4–6 mm, erect-patent when wet, appressed when dry, lanceolate, straight, with entire margins;

alar cells absent or formed by thin-walled, hyaline to reddish, inflated cells;

basal laminal cells hyaline, rectangular, thin-walled, extending higher at margins and forming a V-shaped area;

distal laminal cells incrassate, shortly rectangular to oblique, chlorophyllose;

costa filling 1/2–3/4 of leaf width, excurrent in a hyaline hair tip, which is conspicuously 90° reflexed, in transverse section showing adaxial hyalocysts and abaxial stereids, shortly lamellose at back with ribs 1–2 cells high.

2.5–4 mm, small, lanceolate, ending in a concolorous straight tip, convolute in the distal part, with entire margins;

alar cells not or only slightly differentiated;

basal laminal cells rectangular, firm-walled, hyaline, 2.5–3.5:1, indistinctly bordered at margins;

distal laminal cells oblique to oval, incrassate, ca. 3–5:1;

costa filling 1/3 of leaf width, excurrent in a straight, toothed, hyaline point, in transverse section showing abaxial and adaxial stereids, ridged abaxially with prominent cells.
Seta

7–12 mm, yellowish brown to brownish in age, often several sporophytes from the same plant, curved or sinuose.

Capsule

brown, 1.5 mm, slightly asymmetric and curved when empty.

Calyptra

ciliate at base.

Spores

12–14 µm.

Specialized

asexual reproduction occasionally by deciduous stem tips.

asexual reproduction occasionally by means of deciduous stem tips.
Sporophytes

not known in area of the flora.

Campylopus introflexus

Campylopus carolinae
Habitat Soil along trails, base of trees, flat roofs of buildings, peat in bogs, sand Typically buried in white sand in depressions, in open pine and pine-oak forests and open grassland, coastal lowlands
Elevation 0-200 m (0-700 ft) low elevations
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR; WA; BC; South America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile); Europe; s Africa; Pacific Islands (New Caledonia, subantarctic Islands, New Zealand); Australia
[WildflowerSearch map]
from FNA
FL; NC; South America (Brazil)
Discussion

Campylopus introflexus occurs in masses in sand dunes along the west coast of North America and throughout the Southern Hemisphere. The species was introduced in Great Britain in 1942, and since the beginning of the 1970s has been aggressively spreading through Europe. It now ranges from Iceland to Spain and from Ireland to Poland. The first record in North America dates from August, 1975, and was made on a gravel roof of a building of Humboldt University, Arcata, California. The species is undoubtedly introduced in North America and is spreading here as rapidly as in Europe. The name C. introflexus was used previously for C. pilifer, thus all old references for C. introflexus in North America have to be referred to that species. Also, specimens of C. surinamensis and C. oerstedianus from North America were named as C. introflexus. Campylopus introflexus is easily recognized by the reflexed hair points. Female plants have terminal perichaetial buds. Problems may rarely arise with forms from shaded habitats, in which the hairpoints are absent or so short that they are not reflexed.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

The disjunction for Campylopus carolinae of western South America–southeastern North America is also found for C. angustiretis, C. surinamensis and C. pyriformis, which grow in similar habitats in white sand. The type material from Brunswick, North Carolina is mixed with C. surinamensis, which caused confusion and recognition of this species as a variety of C. delicatulus R. S. Williams (= C. angustiretis).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 27, p. 371. FNA vol. 27, p. 369.
Parent taxa Dicranaceae > Campylopus Dicranaceae > Campylopus
Sibling taxa
C. angustiretis, C. arctocarpus, C. atrovirens, C. carolinae, C. flexuosus, C. fragilis, C. gracilis, C. oerstedianus, C. pilifer, C. pyriformis, C. schimperi, C. schmidii, C. sinensis, C. subulatus, C. surinamensis, C. tallulensis
C. angustiretis, C. arctocarpus, C. atrovirens, C. flexuosus, C. fragilis, C. gracilis, C. introflexus, C. oerstedianus, C. pilifer, C. pyriformis, C. schimperi, C. schmidii, C. sinensis, C. subulatus, C. surinamensis, C. tallulensis
Synonyms Dicranum introflexum
Name authority (Hedwig) Bridel: Muscol. Recent., suppl. 4: 72. (1818) Grout: Moss Fl. N. Amer. 1: 249, plate 122. (1939)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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