Plagiomnium medium
alpine thyme-moss, common leafy moss, greater tooth moss, intermediate plagiomnium moss, medium plagiomnium moss
green or yellow-green, crisped and contorted when dry, flat when moist, elliptic, broadly elliptic, or sometimes obovate or oblong, (3.5–)4–7(–10) mm;
base long-decurrent;
margins toothed to near base, teeth sharp or occasionally blunt, of 1–2(–3) cells;
apex obtuse, rounded, acute, acuminate, or rarely retuse, mucronate or cuspidate, cusp sometimes toothed;
costa percurrent or excurrent;
medial laminal cells usually elongate, short-elongate, or occasionally ± isodiametric, (35–)50–65(–85) µm, less than 1/2 size near margins, in longitudinal or diagonal rows, collenchymatous, walls pitted;
marginal cells linear, in 2–4 rows.
(1–)3(–7), yellow to reddish or orange with age, 2–5 cm.
synoicous.
pendent, oblong, cylindric, or narrow-ovoid, 3–4.5 mm, neck not distinct;
operculum conic-apiculate.
20–36 µm.
stems 2–4 cm, not dendroid;
sterile stems to 8 cm.
Plagiomnium medium
Plagiomnium medium has most often been confused with 2. P. ciliare and 7. P. insigne; see the discussions of those species. The considerable morphological variation within P. medium may also reflect confusion with at least one undescribed species. One British Columbian collection that closely resembles P. medium is dioicous and has larger leaves and laminal cells. The leaf marginal teeth in P. medium are often hooked forward when composed of multiple cells.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
BC
CalFlora
Flora NW
IL Wildflowers
MI Flora
MN Wildflowers
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
