Hypnum cupressiforme
Hypnum jutlandicum
cypress-leaf claw-moss, cypress-leaf plaitmoss, hypnum moss
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.
4–10 cm, yellowish green to pale brown, creeping, ascending, or erect, strongly complanate-foliate, densely to sparsely pinnate, branches 0.4–0.7+ cm;
hyalodermis absent, central strand weak;
pseudoparaphyllia filamentous to lanceolate, occasionally 2-fid.
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.
loosely imbricate, straight to falcate-secund, ovate or oblong-lanceolate, gradually narrowed to apex, 1.7–2.2(–2.5) × 0.6–0.8(–0.9) mm;
base not decurrent, not auriculate;
margins plane or recurved basally, usually markedly serrulate distally;
acumen short;
costa double and short or indistinct;
alar region not well defined;
proximal cells somewhat enlarged and somewhat decurrent at extreme marginal cell;
basal laminal cells shorter, broader than medial cells, light yellow or unpigmented, walls often porose;
medial cells (60–)70–90(–100) × 3 µm. Sexual condition dioicous;
inner perichaetial leaves oblong-lanceolate, margins distinctly serrulate in apex, costa indistinct.
reddish, 1–2.5(–3) cm.
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 jutlandicum
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 jutlandicum is largely an amphi-Atlantic species that may occur in Alaska. The pale yellowish green, glossy, pinnate plants are very distinctive; they might be confused with H. imponens, but H. jutlandicum has yellow rather than red-brown stems and golden yellow rather than pale yellow leaves. The pseudoparaphyllia of H. imponens are more broadly foliose than the nearly filiform ones of H. jutlandicum. Distinction from H. cupressiforme is less apparent, but the usually more complanate pale green plants of H. jutlandicum are usually sufficient to separate it. Plants of H. jutlandicum have branches emerging in a horizontal plane; the pseudoparaphyllia are terminated by a 1-seriate tip of several elongate cells; the alar cells are usually strongly excavate and sometimes brown; and the distal laminal cells are subquadrate and 3–5(–7) along the margin.
(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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