Flora of North America species comparison

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Funaria hygrometrica

bonfire moss, common cord-moss, funaria moss
Habit Plants 4–10 or more mm, with a basal antheridial branch, medium green to yellowish green; leafless proximally with leaves crowded and bulbiform distally, sometimes laxly foliate throughout.
Leaves

smaller proximally, distal leaves 2–4 mm, deeply concave, oblong-ovate to broadly obovate distally, acute to apiculate or short-acuminate, entire or weakly serrulate distally;

costa subpercurrent to short-excurrent;

distal laminal cells thin-walled and inflated, hexagonal or oblong-hexagonal becoming much more oblong proximally.
Seta

usually (12–)20–45(–80) mm, slender and flexuose, usually hygroscopic.
Capsule

2–3.5 mm, pyriform, asymmetric, curved to straight, horizontal to pendent or merely inclined or nearly erect, becoming sulcate when dry below the strongly oblique mouth;

annulus revoluble, operculum slightly convex;

peristome brown, papillose-striate proximally and papillose distally, strongly trabeculate, becoming appendiculate distally, forming a lattice by fusion of the tips;

endostome segments lanceolate about 2/3 as long as the teeth, yellowish, finely papillose-striate.
Calyptra

cucullate, smooth.
Spores

mostly 12–21 µm, finely papillose.

Funaria hygrometrica
Distribution
from USDA
Worldwide except Antarctica
[WildflowerSearch map]
Discussion

Varieties ca. 20 (2 in the flora).

Funaria hygrometrica is one of the most common, weedy, and widely distributed mosses in the world; its distribution closely parallels that of Bryum argenteum. It is widely illustrated in textbooks to demonstrate the life cycle of a typical moss, possibly because of the abundant conspicuous sporophytes produced and its frequent presence in greenhouses. However, the peristome with opposite, instead of alternate, teeth in the two peristome rows is clearly atypical among the majority of mosses. Most of the varieties that have been described probably do not merit recognition because of the morphological plasticity of the species in response to environmental conditions.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Capsule 2-3.5 mm, horizontal to pendent, curved, capsule neck less tapered, mouth of capsule narrow
var. hygrometrica
1. Capsule 2-3 mm, inclined to nearly erect, straight or weakly curved, capsule narrowly tapered to a long slender neck, mouth of capsule wide.
var. calvescens
Source FNA vol. 27, p. 190.
Parent taxa Funariaceae > Funaria
Sibling taxa
F. americana, F. apiculatopilosa, F. arctica, F. flavicans, F. microstoma, F. muhlenbergii, F. polaris, F. serrata
Subordinate taxa
F. hygrometrica var. calvescens, F. hygrometrica var. hygrometrica
Name authority Hedwig: Sp. Musc. Frond., 172. (1801)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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