Hypnum cupressiforme
Hypnum fujiyamae
cypress-leaf claw-moss, cypress-leaf plaitmoss, hypnum moss
1–8+ cm, pale to yellowish green, brown with age, creeping to erect, complanate-foliate or not, irregularly pinnate to nearly unbranched, attached shoots often regularly pinnate, branches 1–3 cm;
hyalodermis absent, central strand poorly developed;
pseudoparaphyllia filamentous, 1–3-seriate at base.
leaves falcate-secund, ovate-lanceolate to ovate, gradually narrowed to apex, 0.2–3 × 0.1–1 mm;
base not decurrent, not or sometimes slightly auriculate in supra-alar region;
margins sometimes recurved proximally, rarely nearly to apex, somewhat toothed in apex;
apex acuminate;
costa double, faint to distinct;
alar cells usually pigmented in interior, hyaline to yellowish on margins, region well defined, excavate, 3 or 4 cells deep, 5–8 cells wide at base, inner cells grading into basal cells;
basal laminal cells shorter, wider than medial cells, sometimes brownish yellow, walls porose, pitted;
medial cells 50–80 × 4–6 µm, walls not pitted.
strongly imbricate, not to decidedly falcate-secund, ovate to oblong-lanceolate, gradually or abruptly narrowed to apex, 1.5–2 × 0.5–0.8 mm;
base not decurrent, not auriculate;
margins recurved to plane proximally, serrulate (sometimes weakly) distally, occasionally nearly entire;
acumen slender;
costa double and short or obscure;
alar region well defined, basalmost cells larger, sometimes hyaline, yellowish or brownish;
basal laminal cells shorter, wider than medial cells, not pigmented, walls not pitted;
medial cells (50–)60–80 × 3–4(–5) µm. Sexual condition dioicous;
inner perichaetial leaves oblong-lanceolate, margins serrulate distally, costa obscure.
reddish, 1–2.5(–3) cm.
dioicous or phyllodioicous.
slightly inclined, reddish, cylindric, 1.8–2.5(–2.8) mm;
annulus 1–3-seriate;
operculum conic to rostrate;
endostome cilia 1–2(–3).
unknown in North America.
Hypnum cupressiforme
Hypnum fujiyamae
Varieties 9 (4 in the flora).
Hypnum cupressiforme is an extremely polymorphic species, reflected in the more than 60 varieties that have been described. The species has a wide ecological amplitude as well as a nearly cosmopolitan distribution and is found in all climatic regions except the Antarctic. Taxonomic features reliable in most other species of Hypnum are plastic in H. cupressiforme. Within a single clone, it is possible to sort out several named varieties. Variety lacunosum Bridel was noted by H. Ando (1989) to be weakly differentiated in North America, and he tentatively cited specimens from Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and South Dakota. Ando noted that var. lacunosum typically is robust, thick-complanate to julaceous, with leaves almost straight to weakly falcate and abruptly narrowed to a short acumen, but the North American material is not robust and is therefore problematic.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Hypnum fujiyamae, known only from Attu Island in the flora area, somewhat resembles H. lindbergii in the field, but the golden to brownish color and imbricate cuspidate apices of the shoots distinguish H. fujiyamae. While H. lindbergii forms turflike mats, H. fujiyamae has reclining shoots. Microscopically, these species are clearly unrelated. Plants of H. fujiyamae are shiny; the stem apices are markedly pointed with imbricate leaves; the branches are 2–3 mm wide; and the leaves are plicate with margins curved beyond the supra-alar region, which is made of brownish, subquadrate to rectangular cells.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Branch leaves 1.5-2 × 0.4-0.6 mm or slightly larger | → 2 |
1. Branch leaves 1-1.4 × 0.2-0.4 mm or slightly smaller | → 3 |
2. Stems weakly complanate-foliate; leaves usually falcate, sometimes strongly so; alar cells not excavate or pigmented. | var. cupressiforme |
2. Stems subjulaceous to complanate-foliate; leaves straight to weakly falcate; alar cells excavate, pigmented. | var. subjulaceum |
3. Leaves usually falcate, sometimes strongly so; margins subentire to distinctly toothed distally. | var. cupressiforme |
3. Leaves straight to somewhat falcate; margins entire or subentire | → 4 |
4. Stems subjulaceous, creeping; leaves oblong-lanceolate, gradually narrowed to apex; laminal cells 60-80 × 3-4 µm (or slightly larger). | var. filiforme |
4. Stems julaceous, creeping to erect; leaves ovate or widely oblong, abruptly narrowed to apex; laminal cells 40-50 × 5-6 µm. | var. julaceum |
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