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.)

Campylopus schmidii does not fruit in North America, where apparently only female plants exist. The range of this species is mainly southeastern Asia. From there it extends south to Queensland, west to Madagascar and Central Africa, east to Hawaii, California, Oregon, and Mexico. In California it is known from two localities, in Oregon from one, and in Mexico from one, which suggests that the occurrence of C. schmidii may result from occasional long distance dispersal events across the Pacific Ocean; it may not be native in North America. The first collection was made in California in 1933. Plants of C. schmidii resemble C. pilifer but are distinguished by elongate-oval rather than oval distal laminal cells and costa smooth at the abaxial surface and not with lamellae 3–4 cells high as in C. pilifer. Campylopus introflexus has lamellae 2 cells high and a similar areolation as C. pilifer but is distinguished in the field by reflexed hairpoints. All three species are more or less vicariant sister species, C. introflexus in the subantarctic to subtropical parts of the southern hemisphere, C. pilifer in tropical India, Africa, and South America and from there extending to southeastern North America and southwestern Europe, and C. schmidii mainly in southeastern Asia.

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