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asplenium fissidens moss

fissidens moss, poor pocket moss

Habit Plants to 250 × 4 mm. Plants 2–3 × 1.5–2.5 mm.
Stem(s)

unbranched and sparingly branched;

axillary hyaline nodules weak;

central strand present.

unbranched;

axillary hyaline nodules absent;

central strands weak.

Leaves

in as many as 25 pairs, often undulate, mostly lingulate, rounded to obtuse to broadly acute, sometimes apiculate, to 4 × 0.5 mm;

dorsal lamina narrowed proximally, ending before or at insertion, not decurrent;

vaginant laminae 1/2–3/4 the leaf length, unequal, minor lamina of most leaves rounded and free distally, or narrowed distally and ending on or near costa;

margin ± entire to crenulate-serrulate, sometimes unevenly so distally, elimbate except for a weak limbidium in the proximal parts of vaginant laminae, limbidial cells 1-stratose;

costa ending several cells before apex, oblongifolius-type, distal part of leaf in transverse section showing enlarged cells arranged in a single row;

laminal cells of dorsal and ventral laminae 1-stratose, distinct, smooth, lenticularly thickened but appearing bulging, firm-walled, irregularly hexagonal, 7–12 µm long;

juxtacostal and interior proximal cells of vaginant laminae 1-stratose, smooth, plane, quadrate to ± oblong, larger;

medial marginal cells of vaginant laminae ± elongate, oriented obliquely.

as many as 5 pairs, oblong to oblanceolate to lanceolate, acute to short-acuminate, to 2.1 × 0.6 mm;

margin crenulate-serrulate but often sharply serrate on distal parts of vaginant laminae, elimbate;

dorsal lamina usually narrowed proximally, ending at insertion, not decurrent;

vaginant laminae ± 1/2–2/3 leaf length, unequal, minor lamina ending near margin;

costa ending 6–15 cells before apex, bryoides-type;

laminal cells 1-stratose, distinct, smooth, plane, firm-walled, long-hexagonal to oblong to regularly quadrate, decreasing in size from costa to margin, medial cells 10–54 × 12–25 µm, largest along costa, marginal cells 9–15 µm, juxtacostal cells in vaginant laminae pellucid, greatly enlarged.

Seta

to 6 mm.

2.5–5 mm.

Sexual condition

dioicous;

perigonia and perichaetia on elongate stems;

naked archegonia at times in axils of distal leaves.

rhizautoicous and gonioautoicous.

Capsule

theca ± erect, radially symmetric to slightly arcuate, bilaterally symmetric, to 1.5 mm;

peristome taxifolius-type;

operculum ± as long as theca.

theca exserted, usually inclined, slightly arcuate, bilaterally symmetric, infrequently erect, nearly radially symmetric, 0.7 mm;

peristome scariosus-type;

operculum 0.3–0.8 mm.

Calyptra

cucullate, smooth, 1–1.7 µm. Spores 7.5–12 µm.

cucullate, smooth, 0.4 mm.

Spores

9–13 µm.

Sporophytes

1–2 per perichaetium, orange-red.

1 per perichaetium.

Fissidens asplenioides

Fissidens pauperculus

Habitat Sandstone ledges and crevices in moist ravines and grottoes, usually along streams and waterfalls Bare gravelly soil in dried stream beds and on banks, sometimes found with F. crispus, often associated with the Coast Redwood Forest (L. F. Koch 1951)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; GA; KY; LA; MS; NC; SC; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies; Asia; Africa; Atlantic Islands (Macaronesia); Pacific Islands (New Zealand); Australia
from FNA
CA; OR; WA; BC
Discussion

Fissidens asplenioides, usually a robust species, is recognized by leaves typically curled tightly inward from the tips when dry, a minor lamina that in most leaves is rounded distally and attached more or less only along costa, lenticularly thickened dorsal and ventral laminal cells, elongate medial marginal cells of the vaginant laminae oriented obliquely, and oblongifolius-type costa which in the distal part of the leaf in transverse section shows a single row of enlarged cells. The oblongifolius-type costa, found in F. asplenioides and F. santa-clarensis, is unique to sect. Amblyothallia of subg. Pachyfissidens (R. A. Pursell and M. A. Bruggeman-Nannenga 2004). Subterranean, multicellular, irregularly globose, rhizoidal gemmae have been reported in Macaronesian specimens of F. asplenioides.

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

Fissidens pauperculus is distinguished by its short costa, and smooth, plane laminal cells that gradually decrease in size outwardly. P. A. Florschütz (1964) equated specimens from Suriname with this species. R. A. Pursell (1994b) demonstrated, however, that the North American plants are different from those of South America. Although close to the South American plants that belong to F. inaequalis Mitten, the North American species differs by its slightly smaller laminal cells and in the absence of truncate-retuse vaginant laminae in the perichaetial leaves.

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

Source FNA vol. 27, p. 337. FNA vol. 27, p. 354.
Parent taxa Fissidentaceae > Fissidens Fissidentaceae > Fissidens
Sibling taxa
F. adianthoides, F. amoenus, F. aphelotaxifolius, F. appalachensis, F. arcticus, F. bryoides, F. bushii, F. closteri, F. crispus, F. curvatus, F. dubius, F. elegans, F. exilis, F. fontanus, F. grandifrons, F. hallianus, F. hyalinus, F. leptophyllus, F. littlei, F. minutulus, F. obtusifolius, F. osmundioides, F. pallidinervis, F. pauperculus, F. pellucidus, F. polypodioides, F. santa-clarensis, F. scalaris, F. serratus, F. subbasilaris, F. sublimbatus, F. submarginatus, F. taxifolius, F. taylorii, F. ventricosus, F. zollingeri
F. adianthoides, F. amoenus, F. aphelotaxifolius, F. appalachensis, F. arcticus, F. asplenioides, F. bryoides, F. bushii, F. closteri, F. crispus, F. curvatus, F. dubius, F. elegans, F. exilis, F. fontanus, F. grandifrons, F. hallianus, F. hyalinus, F. leptophyllus, F. littlei, F. minutulus, F. obtusifolius, F. osmundioides, F. pallidinervis, F. pellucidus, F. polypodioides, F. santa-clarensis, F. scalaris, F. serratus, F. subbasilaris, F. sublimbatus, F. submarginatus, F. taxifolius, F. taylorii, F. ventricosus, F. zollingeri
Name authority Hedwig: Sp. Musc. Frond., 156. (1801) Howe: Erythea 2: 97, fig. 1. (1894)
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