Ceratodon purpureus
Ceratodon
ceratodon moss, fire-moss
ceratodon moss
(0.2–)1–3(–4) cm.
(0.2–)1–3(–4) cm, often branched;
rhizoids at base, papillose.
crowded, erect-patent to contorted or somewhat crisped, rarely straight when dry, lanceolate, ovate-lanceolate, or triangular-lanceolate, 0.35–2.8 mm, margins recurved to near apex or rarely plane, irregularly serrate to uneven or smooth distally, apices acute to short-acuminate or, rarely, obtuse;
costa strong, sub-percurrent to excurrent, sometimes as a long, smooth awn, medial laminal cells (6.5–)8–12(–14) µm, cell walls even, usually of medium thickness, often somewhat thicker and rounded at the cell angles.
erect-patent, contorted or somewhat crisped, rarely straight when dry, lanceolate, ovate-lanceolate, or triangular-lanceolate, or elliptical to ovate and somewhat concave, margins recurved to near apex, rarely plane, irregularly serrate or smooth distally;
costa sub-percurrent to excurrent, sometimes as a long, smooth awn, 1 row of guide cells, two stereid bands, hydroid cells present between guide cells and abaxial stereids;
medial laminal cells of somewhat uneven shape and size across leaf, more or less quadrate or short-rectangular, often irregularly angled or rarely rounded, non-pitted.
1–3(–4) cm, various shades of red, orange, or yellow.
red, purplish, yellow, or yellow-orange, elongate, twisted when dry, erect.
dioicous;
male and female plants about the same size;
perigonial leaves ovate, concave, short-acuminate or rarely long-acuminate in well-developed plants;
perichaetial leaves convolute-sheathing, abruptly subulate to gradually acuminate.
oblong to long-cylindric, (1–)2–2.5(–3) mm, smooth to strongly sulcate when dry;
free to united at their nodes, finely papillose to spinulose-papillose, dark red and bordered to completely pale and absent borders.
erect to inclined or horizontal, exserted, dark red to reddish or purplish brown, to pale brown, pale yellow or yellow-orange, oblong-ovoid to oblong-cylindric or cylindric, often somewhat asymmetric and deeply furrowed, smooth to strongly sulcate when dry, usually strumose;
annulus of 2–3 rows of large, deciduous, revoluble cells;
operculum conic to long-conic, straight;
peristome single, teeth 16, split nearly to their base into 2 filiform segments free to united at their nodes basally, 5–18 articulations, basal membrane present, finely papillose to spinulose-papillose.
cucullate.
(10–)11–14(–17) µm.
globose, smooth to finely papillose.
asexual reproduction absent or as multicellular filamentous propagules with thin walls scattered along the stems or occasionally as rhizome nodules.
Ceratodon purpureus
Ceratodon
Subspecies 4 (3 in the flora).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Species 3 (2 in the flora).
Historically, Ceratodon has been a troubling genus. Taxonomic interpretations, especially with respect to C. purpureus in the broad sense, have varied widely, mainly because of the high degree of environmental and suspected genetic variation across its range. J. S. Burley and N. M. Pritchard (1990) provided the most thorough treatment of Ceratodon to date, reducing the number of species to four and subspecies of C. purpureus to three. One of their species, C. conicus, is treated here as a subspecies of C. purpureus, based on the apparent gradation and reduction of all of the characters that they used in their treatment. However, there remains a great need for a detailed study of this genus within North America.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Plants usually of various shades of green to red-brown; seta red to dark brown; capsule inclined to horizontal, oblong to cylindric, strumose, deeply sulcate when dry, usually red to red-brown to purplish, occasionally light brown | subsp. purpureus |
1. Plants pale green to yellow-green to yellowish brown; seta pale yellow to yellow-orange, rarely reddish; capsule slightly inclined to erect, narrowly cylindric to cylindric, not or weakly strumose, smooth to sulcate when dry, usually pale brown to yellow (golden) -orange | → 2 |
2. Stems usually less than 0.5 cm; distal leaves relatively compact, straight to slightly twisted when dry, usually forming a comal tuft, slightly spreading when wet, 0.6-1.2 mm, margins often entire; costa long-excurrent as a smooth awn on many leaves, awns sometimes as long as leaf blade | subsp. conicus |
2. Stems usually greater than 1 cm; distal leaves more open, usually crisped when dry, not forming a comal tuft, spreading when wet, 1.2-1.8 mm, margins often toothed; costa percurrent to slightly excurrent | subsp. stenocarpus |
1. Vegetative leaves elliptic to ovate-lanceolate, concave, obtuse; distal laminal cells usually 12-16 mm, sometimes longer; leaf margins plane to weakly recurved and usually entire; most costa sub-percurrent; capsule ovate to ovate-cylindrical, about 1 mm; spores usually19-21 µm; restricted to Arctic regions. | C. heterophyllus |
1. Vegetative leaves usually lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, acute to short-acuminate; distal laminal cells usually 8-12 mm; leaf margins recurved and usually toothed distally; costa percurrent to long-excurrent; capsule ovate-cylindrical to cylindrical, usually longer, to 3 mm; spores usually 11-14 µm; widespread. | C. purpureus |
BC
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USDA Plants Database
