Flora of North America species comparison

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Orthotrichum lyellii

Lyell's bristle-moss, Lyell's orthotrichum moss
Habit Plants to 13 cm.
Stem

leaves erect-spreading to loosely erect, ± contorted when dry, lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 2.5–6.5 mm;

margins plane, entire;

apex narrowly acute to acuminate;

basal laminal cells narrowly elongate, walls thick, ± nodose;

distal cells 7–14 µm, 1-stratose, papillae 1–3 per cell, conic, large.
Seta

0.8–2.7 mm.
Sexual condition

dioicous.
Capsule

immersed, emergent, or rarely exserted, oblong-cylindric, 1.7–3 mm, strongly 8-ribbed to mid capsule or entire length;

stomata superficial;

peristome double;

prostome absent;

exostome teeth 16, reflexed-recurved, acuminate, densely papillose;

endostome segments 16, well developed, usually present when capsule is old and dry, thick, stout, of 2 rows of cells, narrower than exostome teeth, yellowish brown, coarsely papillose.
Calyptra

conic-oblong, smooth, very hairy, hairs papillose.
Spores

18–35 µm.
Specialized

asexual reproduction by gemmae on leaves.

Orthotrichum lyellii
Habitat Trees, covering trunks to 10 m, boulders
Elevation low to moderate elevations (10-1000 m) (low to moderate elevations (0-3300 ft))
Distribution
from FNA
AK; CA; ID; OR; WA; BC; Mexico (Baja California); Europe; n Africa
[WildflowerSearch map]
Discussion

Orthotrichum lyellii is easily distinguished from all other species of the genus by its dioicous sexual condition, the male plants being slightly smaller and having numerous and conspicuous perigonia. In addition, the 16, slenderly acuminate, whitish exostome teeth and 16 endostome segments are characteristic. Sterile plants usually have abundant laminal gemmae.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 28, p. 59.
Parent taxa Orthotrichaceae > Orthotrichum
Sibling taxa
O. affine, O. alpestre, O. anodon, O. anomalum, O. bartramii, O. bolanderi, O. consimile, O. cupulatum, O. diaphanum, O. elegans, O. euryphyllum, O. exiguum, O. fenestratum, O. flowersii, O. gymnostomum, O. hallii, O. holzingeri, O. keeverae, O. kellmanii, O. laevigatum, O. lescurii, O. norrisii, O. obtusifolium, O. ohioense, O. pallens, O. parvulum, O. pellucidum, O. praemorsum, O. pulchellum, O. pumilum, O. pusillum, O. pycnophyllum, O. pylaisii, O. rivulare, O. rupestre, O. shawii, O. shevockii, O. sordidum, O. speciosum, O. spjutii, O. stellatum, O. stramineum, O. strangulatum, O. striatum, O. tenellum, O. underwoodii
Synonyms Dorcadion lyellii, O. lyellii var. howei, O. lyellii var. papillosum, O. lyellii var. pringlei, O. lyellii subsp. strictum, O. lyellioides, O. menziesii, O. papillosum, O. papillosum subsp. strictum, O. pringlei
Name authority Hooker & Taylor: Muscol. Brit., 76, plate 22 [upper left]. (1818)
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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