Campylopus introflexus
Campylopus surinamensis
heath star moss
surinam campylopus moss
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.
4–7 mm, narrow lanceolate, narrowed to a short (in stem leaves) or long (in rosette and comal leaves) serrate subula;
alar cells sometimes well developed, forming reddish or hyaline auricles, sometimes not much differentiated;
basal laminal cells of appressed stem leaves more or less thick-walled, of comal leaves thin-walled, narrower at margins, forming an indistinct small border;
distal laminal cells short to long-rectangular or oblique, 2–5:1;
costa filling half of the leaf width, excurrent in a serrate awn that is subhyaline in the comal leaves, in transverse section with adaxial hyalocysts and abaxial groups of stereids, abaxially ribbed.
7–12 mm, yellowish brown to brownish in age, often several sporophytes from the same plant, curved or sinuose.
brown, 1.5 mm, slightly asymmetric and curved when empty.
ciliate at base.
12–14 µm.
asexual reproduction occasionally by deciduous stem tips.
asexual reproduction by small hooked or boomerang-shaped leaves (similar to those of C. fragilis) in axils of comal leaves.
not seen in North America.
Campylopus introflexus
Campylopus surinamensis
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 surinamensis was named C. gracilicaulis in North America before the identity with the South American C. surinamensis was determined. As expressed in the description, the rosette leaves, appressed stem leaves and comal leaves have a different shape, have different, short or long, concolorous or subhyaline leaf tips and different basal laminal cells. This and the variability of the plant morphology have caused confusion. The almost hairpointed apices of the comal leaves have led to identification as C. introflexus, the production of brood leaves to identification as C. fragilis. The confusion increased when Bartram transferred C. gracilicaulis and C. donnellii to C. flexuosus, as he did with C. subleucogaster. The latter was regarded as a distinct species by Williams but placed as a variety of C. tallulensis by Grout. The type specimen of C. donnellii does not differ from those of C. surinamensis or C. gracilicaulis. However, this name has frequently been used for forms of C. surinamensis without comal tufts or consisting only of small rosettes
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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