Pohlia nutans
Pohlia filum
nodding pohlia, nodding thread-moss, pohlia moss
fat-bud pohlia, fat-bud thread-moss, pohlia moss
0.5–3.5(–10) cm.
0.5–4 cm.
erect to ± spreading, lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, 2 mm;
base not or scarcely decurrent;
margins subentire or more often serrulate to serrate in distal 1/3;
costa subpercurrent, percurrent, or rarely short-excurrent;
distal medial laminal cells hexagonal to rhomboidal, firm, 50–90 µm, walls moderately thick.
erect, lanceolate, 0.6–1.2 mm;
margins serrulate to serrate in distal 1/3;
costa subpercurrent;
distal medial laminal cells rhombic to rhomboidal, 35–95 µm, walls thin.
orange to orange-brown.
orange-brown.
paroicous, rarely dioicous;
perigonial leaves ovate-lanceolate;
perichaetial leaves somewhat differentiated, ± long-lanceolate.
dioicous;
perigonial leaves ovate;
perichaetial leaves scarcely differentiated, lanceolate.
inclined 80–100°, orange to orange-brown, slender-pyriform, neck 1/2 urn length;
exothecial cells elongate-rectangular, walls straight;
stomata superficial;
annulus present;
operculum conic;
exostome teeth yellow to orange-brown, acute-triangular;
endostome hyaline or rarely orange-brown, basal membrane 1/2 exostome length, segments tapered apically, broadly keeled, broadly perforate, cilia short to long.
inclined 95–180°, brown to stramineous, pyriform, neck 1/3 urn length;
exothecial cells short-rectangular, walls sinuate;
stomata superficial;
annulus present;
operculum convex-conic;
exostome teeth yellow-brown, narrowly triangular-acute;
endostome hyaline, basal membrane 1/2 exostome length, segments distinctly keeled, broadly perforate, cilia short to rudimentary.
16–22 µm, finely to distinctly roughened.
16–23 µm, finely roughened.
asexual reproduction typically absent.
asexual reproduction usually present when sterile;
axillary gemmae 1 (or 2), bulbiform, oblong or elliptic to subglobose, green to yellow, black when old, leaf primordia restricted to apex or rarely 1 or 2 proximally, laminate, small, stiff.
Pohlia nutans
Pohlia filum
Pohlia nutans is the most common species of Pohlia in North America, Europe, and elsewhere in the Northern Hemisphere. In contrast to the treatment by A. J. Shaw (1982), P. sphagnicola is not separated here from P. nutans; the type of P. sphagnicola is European. Plants referable to P. sphagnicola, including North American collections, differ in being dioicous and having entire leaves, slightly shorter laminal cells, and smaller spores. The habitat in Sphagnum hummocks is not diagnostic; at least 80% of plants growing in Sphagnum are P. nutans. Pohlia schimperi, a northern form with reddish leaves, also dioicous, is not recognized, as per Shaw.
The peristome of Pohlia nutans is as well developed as any in Pohlia, with long, tapered, trabeculate exostome teeth and well-developed endostomes with broadly keeled, widely perforate segments and short to long cilia. The laminal cells are short- to elongate-hexagonal with thickened walls. The only other North American species with relatively thick-walled laminal cells is P. elongata; the cells of P. elongata are typically longer, but there is extensive overlap in sizes. Plants without sporophytes have generally been named P. nutans, although some collections from montane regions may actually be P. elongata; sporophytes of P. elongata have longer necks, as long as or longer than the urns, and reduced peristomes with endostome segments narrowly split along the keel and (usually) no cilia.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Pohlia filum is an easily recognized species characterized by erect, somewhat glossy leaves, and ovoid gemmae that normally arise singly in the leaf axils. The gemmae have a few small, triangular, rather stiff leaf primordia at the apex, rarely with one or two primordia proximal on the gemma body. The gemmae of P. drummondii are more elongate-cylindric and branchlike, with larger, flexuose, often green leaf primordia at the apex and also frequently more proximally on the gemma body.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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