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Jungermann's platydictya moss, thread-like willow-moss

Habit Plants dense, soft, silky, green to yellow-brown.
Stems

with branching angle narrow, branches easily detached;

pseudoparaphyllia absent;

rhizoids axillary, purplish and granular-papillose at least when young.

Leaves

erect-spreading or sometimes ± secund, 0.1–0.3(–0.5) mm;

base not or somewhat narrowed to insertion;

margins serrulate, especially at insertion;

alar cells subquadrate, region of 3–7 cells;

distal laminal cells shortly oblong-rhomboid, 3–4:1.

Seta

0.6–1.1 cm.

Sexual condition

dioicous;

perichaetial leaf margins ciliate-dentate distally.

Capsule

erect, oblong-cylindric, symmetric or nearly so, 0.5–1 mm, contracted below mouth and at neck when dry, neck short;

stomata in neck;

annulus 2-seriate;

operculum convex-conic, stoutly mammillate to ± rostellate;

exostome teeth whitish yellow;

endostome cilia 1 or 2, rudimentary to well developed.

Spores

11–13 µm.

Specialized

asexual reproduction by axillary obcuneate propagula.

Platydictya jungermannioides

Habitat Rock in damp, sheltered places, crevices of cliffs, under rock ledges, peaty soil, humus under overhanging turf, hollows under roots of trees, lower sides of logs, calcareous habitats
Elevation low to high elevations
Distribution
from FNA
AK; AR; AZ; CA; CO; IA; ID; MI; MT; ND; NM; NY; VT; WA; WY; AB; BC; NB; NL; NS; NT; NU; ON; QC; SK; YT; Greenland; Europe; Asia
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Discussion

Platydictya jungermannioides is easily recognized by its small size, absent or almost absent leaf costa, easily detached branches, and axillary rhizoids that are purplish and granular-papillose at least when young. The branching and rhizoid characters differentiate P. jungermannioides from the other three species of Platydictya.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 28, p. 283.
Parent taxa Amblystegiaceae > Platydictya
Sibling taxa
P. confervoides, P. minutissima, P. subtilis
Synonyms Hypnum jungermannioides, Amblystegiella sprucei
Name authority (Bridel) H. A. Crum: Michigan Bot. 3: 60. (1964)
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