Didymodon australasiae
Didymodon subandreaeoides
didymodon moss
leaves spreading-incurved and twisted to incurved-appressed when dry, spreading to spreading-recurved and not keeled when moist, monomorphic, short-lanceolate or sometimes short-ovate to long-elliptic, broadly concave adaxially across leaf, usually 1–2.5 mm, base scarcely differentiated in shape to ovate, margins usually recurved at mid leaf, entire, apex broadly acute or occasionally narrowly so, not fragile;
costa percurrent or ending a few cells below the apex, broader at mid leaf, occasionally weakly spurred, with a low adaxial pad of cells, adaxial costal cells quadrate, 4–6 cells wide at mid leaf, guide cells in 1–2 layers;
basal laminal cells differentiated medially or across leaf, quadrate to short-rectangular, walls very thin and not perforated;
distal laminal cells 7–12 wide, 1:1 or occasionally transversely elongate below, papillae usually distinct, low or simple to 2-fid, occasionally absent, lumens oval to rounded-quadrate, walls thin to evenly thickened, convex on both sides of lamina, 2-stratose in one or more rows along margins.
to 1 cm, central strand present or rarely absent.
dimorphic: leaves on main stems leaves appressed when dry, weakly spreading and not keeled when moist, ovate-triangular or ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, broadly concave adaxially across leaf, usually (0.3–)0.5–0.6(–0.8) mm, base scarcely differentiated in shape, margins plane to weakly recurved at mid leaf, minutely crenulate, apex rounded-obtuse to obtusely acute, seldom narrowly acute;
costa ending 3–6 cells below the apex, not strongly spurred, not much widened or tapering, without an adaxial pad of cells, adaxial costal cells quadrate, 2 cells wide at mid leaf, guide cells in 1 layer;
basal laminal cells weakly differentiated medially, walls thickened, short-rectangular, not perforated;
distal laminal cells 9–12 wide, 1:1, papillae low, simple or scablike, 1 over each lumen, rarely absent, lumens angular to ovate, walls evenly thickened, weakly convex on both sides of lamina, 1-stratose;
leaves of branchlets oval to orbicular, strongly concave, cochleariform, about 0.2 mm, julaceous, distal laminal cells short-rectangular, 7–11 µm wide, 1–2:1.
0.7–1 cm.
only perichaetial plants seen.
1–1.9 mm;
peristome teeth 32, linear, weakly twisted, to 600 µm, occasionally rudimentary.
11–15 µm.
asexual reproduction by multicellular tubers on proximal rhizoids.
asexual reproduction specialized structures absent.
laminal KOH reaction variously negative or yellow- or orange- or red-brown.
laminal KOH reaction red.
unknown.
Didymodon australasiae
Didymodon subandreaeoides
In North American Didymodon, hydroids are found in the costae of D. anserinocapitatus, D. australasiae, D. nevadensis, D. norrisii, D. umbrosus, D. revolutus, and D. vinealis, and in these species the adaxial stereid band is usually absent in well developed specimens. Intergrades exist between D. australasiae and D. umbrosus, but the extreme forms are common and quite distinctive.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Recently, J. Kucera and H. Köckinger (2000) demonstrated that the widely distributed (Austria, France, Germany, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland) Old World species Grimmia andreaeoides Limpricht is a synonym of Didymodon subandreaeoides, which is distributed along inland mountain ranges from the North Slope of Alaska south along the Cordillera into Colorado. It is commonly associated with Molendoa sendtneriana, with which it is often mixed in collections and which apparently has a similar distribution in northwestern North America. The fragile, cochleariform-leaved branchlets may possibly figure in asexual reproduction. Andreaea rothii when without sporophytes may be confused with D. subandreaeoides, but may be distinguished by the former’s autoicous inflorescence, the ecostate, oblong perichaetial leaves, leaves monomorphic, cauline leaves plane, cells with bulging but epapillose bright orange walls, 2-stratose along the distal margins, middle lamellae often evident between proximal cells, and costa not sharply distinguished from lamina beyond mid leaf.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CalFlora
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
BC
