Grimmia trichophylla
Grimmia pilifera
grimmia dry rock moss, hair-point grimmia
grimmia dry rock moss
2–4 cm, central strand present.
1–4 cm, central strand absent.
clusters occasionally present in distal leaf axils.
loosely appressed, slightly twisted when dry, erecto-patent when moist, lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, tapering to acute apex, 2–3.5 × 0.3–0.4 mm, usually sharply keeled, margins recurved on one or both sides, plane to erect distally, awns variable, short to long, smooth to denticulate, not conspicuously flattened at base, costa firm, projecting on abaxial side;
basal juxtacostal laminal cells long-rectangular (rarely short-rectangular), ± nodulose, thick-walled;
basal marginal laminal cells short- to long-rectangular, with thickened transverse walls;
medial laminal cells quadrate to short-rectangular, slightly sinuose, thick-walled;
distal laminal cells 1-stratose, occasionally with 2-stratose ridges.
narrowly lanceolate from an ovate base, 2–4.5 × 0.4–0.8 mm, keeled, both margins recurved proximally, often narrowly, sheathing, awn 0.2–0.6(–1.5) mm, costal transverse section prominent, usually semicircular;
basal juxtacostal laminal cells short-rectangular to linear, sinuose, thin transverse and thick lateral walls;
basal marginal laminal cells quadrate to short-rectangular, straight to sinuose, thick transverse and thin lateral walls, hyaline;
medial laminal cells quadrate to short-rectangular, sinuose, thick-walled;
distal laminal cells 2-stratose, not bulging, marginal cells (2–)3(–4)-stratose, not bulging.
arcuate, 2–4 mm.
straight, 0.5–1 mm.
dioicous.
dioicous, perichaetial leaves not enlarged.
occasionally present, exserted, oblong-ovoid, yellowish green to stramineous, striate when dry, exothecial cells thin-walled, annulus present, operculum rostrate, peristome teeth yellowish, papillose, deeply split and perforated.
occasionally present, immersed, yellow, oblong-ovoid, exothecial cells quadrate to short-rectangular, thin-walled, stomata present in 2–3 rows, annulus of 2 rows of rectangular, thick-walled cells, operculum long-rostrate, peristome present, fully developed, perforate in middle, split in distal half.
mitrate.
Grimmia trichophylla
Grimmia pilifera
In North America, Grimmia trichophylla is principally a lowland species, occurring in the mountains up to about 1000 m., rarely higher. In the Southern Hemisphere, it may be found up to 4000 m. In New Zealand, the species is common, and in contrast to G. trichophylla in North America, frequently bears capsules. The New Zealand plants are usually smaller than American specimens, and the leaves are frequently contorted. The nearly cosmopolitan G. trichophylla has many phenotypes, and numerous subspecies and varieties have been described. In damp and shaded habitats, the awns may be short, just as in dry unfavorable habitats at high altitudes, where stunted specimens may occur with small, short leaves and reduced awns, or even with muticous leaves. Grimmia trichophylla has frequently been confused with related species such as 36. G. muehlenbeckii and 34. G. lisae (see discussions thereunder for identification details). Robust forms of G. trichophylla have been mistaken for G. austrofunalis (H. C. Greven 1997, 2003), which does not occur in North America. Although some of those plants have leaves of equal length along the stem, characteristic of G. austrofunalis, they also have both leaf margins recurved, and the medial and outer basal laminal cells are longer and more robust than in that species.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Grimmia pilifera is most commonly found in the Appalachian Mountains from Nova Scotia to New York and south to northern Georgia and Alabama. It extends into the Midwest on the Ozark Plateau northward to southern Illinois and Indiana. It is rare in western North America, being found in mountainous areas in southeastern Arizona to the Rocky Mountain Front Ranges of New Mexico and Colorado, with disjunct sites in Montana, western South Dakota, and Minnesota. It occupies a broader range of habitats than does either G. longirostris or G. arizonae in that it is common on limestone and sandstone, as well as granites, in shaded as well as exposed sites, and at much lower elevations throughout much of its range, while still reaching the alpine in Colorado. Grimmia pilifera is most closely related to a group that includes G. longirostris and G. arizonae. Its lack of a central strand, and its leaves with a small, well-defined ovate base recurved on both margins, which are also distinctly thick, will separate it from G. arizonae.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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