Flora of North America species comparison

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 description above refers to North American plants of Campylopus pyriformis—specimens from other parts of its range have a somewhat different appearance. This species was first recorded for North America (T. Arts and J.-P. Frahm 1990) based on collections made by W. D. Reese. The occurrence in North America at only three localities in Louisiana and Mississippi, and an additional unpublished record from Florida, can perhaps be explained by introduction facilitated by the presence of rhizoidal tubers. It may therefore be doubted whether this species is native in North America. However, the small form found in the United States resembles a form occurring in Brazil in similar habitats, from which area it may have been introduced by birds. Similar disjunctions between Brazil and southeast North America are also found in C. surinamensis, C. carolinae and C. angustiretis, which all conspicuously grow together on bare, acid, white sand. Campylopus pyriformis was also found mixed with C. surinamensis, but can be distinguished by the more elongate, narrowly lanceolate leaves with a channelled apex, a long-excurrent nerve and a lamina ending at mid leaf and colorless rhizoidal tubers instead of the reddish or reddish brown ones as in C. surinamensis.

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