Dicranoweisia crispula |
Dicranaceae |
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dicranoweisia moss, mountain pincushion, mountain thatch-moss |
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Habit | Plants small to large, often in dense tufts. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stems | erect, simple or dichotomously to irregularly branched, usually with central strand, often densely radiculose, tips occasionally deciduous. |
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Leaves | crisped and curled when dry, plane in many leaves, 2-stratose in distal 1/2, cells with longitudinal striolae in distal 1/2 of leaf; usually a few alar cells enlarged on margins, often colored. |
in several rows around the stem, erect or secund, often falcate-secund, sometimes crispate, short- to long-lanceolate, whole leaves or their tips sometimes deciduous; costa single, usually strong, percurrent to excurrent, sometimes ending in a short to long hyaline awn, smooth, ridged or lamellose on abaxial surface, rhizoids occasionally on adaxial or abaxial surface near leaf base; laminal cells smooth or sometimes distal cells mammillose or papillose on one or both sides, papillae rarely forked, or toothed by projecting cell ends, pitted or nonpitted; proximal cells elongate, often differentiated in alar region, sometimes undifferentiated. |
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Seta | solitary or several per perichaetium, elongate, usually straight, sometimes flexuose or cygneous. |
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Sexual condition | autoicous, dioicous or pseudomonoicous. |
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Capsule | without differentiated annulus; peristome vertically striolate basally, weakly papillose distally. |
exserted, erect, inclined, or sometimes curved, cylindrical or ovoid, smooth, ridged, furrowed or irregularly wrinkled, sometimes strumose; stomata present or absent, superficial; annulus present or absent, often compound, deciduous or persistent; operculum conic or obliquely rostrate from a conic base; peristome single, usually of 16 lanceolate teeth, deeply divided into 2 or rarely 3 divisions, usually vertically striolate or pitted-striolate proximally, papillose distally. |
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Calyptra | cucullate, smooth, naked, sometimes fringed at base, usually covering most of capsule, fugacious. |
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Spores | mostly spheric, smooth to papillose. |
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Specialized | asexual reproduction absent. |
asexual reproduction absent or occasionally present as brood leaves, microphyllous branches, borne in axils of distal leaves or as rhizoidal tubers. |
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Dicranoweisia crispula |
Dicranaceae |
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Phenology | Capsules mature spring–early summer. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Forming cushions on siliceous rock or gravel, occasionally epiphytic or epixylic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 10-2000 m (0-6600 ft) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
AK; AZ; CA; CO; ID; ME; MI; MT; NC; NH; NM; NV; OR; SD; TN; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; NU; ON; QC; YT; Greenland; Asia
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Worldwide |
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Discussion | Dicranoweisia crispula is an extremely variable species. In stature the plants vary 1–6 cm, while the leaf length varies 1–3.5 mm. The capsules vary considerably from cylindric to short-elliptic, with the length ranging 0.5–2 mm. The shape and sheathing of the perichaetial leaves is also variable. Although this species is autoicous, sex organs are often absent, especially in terrestrial plants, with sporophytes correspondingly infrequent. Differentiation of alar cells is often weak in North American material and the striolation can also be weak, and is best observed on cells adjacent to the costa. This species is widespread mainly at higher elevations in western North America, but sporadic in the eastern part of the continent, again occurring mainly at higher elevations. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Genera 50–52, species ca. 900 (17 genera, 90 species in the flora). Distinctive characters of this large acrocarpous family include the erect, often tomentose stems; mostly narrow, lanceolate, occasionally falcate or falcate-secund leaves, with a single, narrow to broad costa, with or without rhizoids at the base, sometimes ending in a hyaline, occasionally toothed apex, costa in cross section with or without stereid bands, leaf cells usually smooth, sometimes mammillose, or rarely with a single papilla on one or both sides, papillae rarely forked, asexual propagation by specialized deciduous branches, deciduous leaves or leaf apices, rarely rhizoidal tubers; sporophytes usually solitary or rarely clustered, setae mostly elongate, straight or rarely flexuose or cygneous, capsule cylindric to ovoid, erect to horizontal, smooth or ribbed, sometimes strumose, operculum usually obliquely rostrate, peristome single, with 16 teeth often divided 1/2 way to the base, usually striolate or pitted-striolate proximally, papillose distally. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 27, p. 396. | FNA vol. 27, p. 358. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Dicranaceae > Dicranoweisia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Synonyms | Weissia crispula, D. crispula var. compacta, D. contermina, D. roellii, Trichostomum alpinum, Weissia compacta | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Name authority | (Hedwig) Milde: Bryol. Siles., 49. (1869) | Schimper | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Web links |