Pseudoleskea radicosa |
Pseudoleskea radicosa var. denudata |
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pseudoleskea moss |
denuded pseudoleskea moss |
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Habit | Plants medium-sized to large, in thick mats, green, yellow-green, or orange-green. | Plants large, yellow-green, green, or orange-green. | ||||||||
Stems | with branches robust, julaceous, apices usually curving up; central strand present; paraphyllia many, filamentous to foliose, branched. |
with apices hooked, branches few or absent. |
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Leaves | appressed to somewhat erect when dry, erect-spreading when moist, glossy or dull, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, asymmetric, usually falcate to falcate-secund, 0.6–2(–2.4) mm; margins narrowly recurved to mid leaf or to near acumen; apex abruptly acute to short- or long-acuminate, hair-point absent; costa subpercurrent to percurrent, yellow-green, sometimes sinuate; alar cells transversely elongate to quadrate, region small to medium-sized; medial laminal cells homogeneous, short-rhomboidal, elliptic, or fusiform, to 40 µm, 2–3(–4):1, pellucid to opaque, prorate to near base, lumina larger than 10 µm, walls thin or rarely firm, not pitted; apical cells 2–3:1; juxtacostal cells somewhat shorter than more distal cells, walls not pitted. |
not incurved, strongly falcate-secund, weakly concave, pluriplicate, 1.6–2.3 mm; apex long-acuminate; medial laminal cells opaque. |
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Capsule | erect to suberect, symmetric, 1–2 mm; endostome basal membrane 1/4–1/3 exostome length, segments shorter than exostome, cilia usually present, 1 or 2, sometimes reduced. |
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Spores | 16–22 µm. |
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Pseudoleskea radicosa |
Pseudoleskea radicosa var. denudata |
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Phenology | Capsules mature Jul–Aug. | |||||||||
Habitat | Mesic soil under shrubs or on boulders, associated with snow banks, subalpine-alpine | |||||||||
Elevation | moderate to high elevations (900-3000 m) (moderate to high elevations (3000-9800 ft)) | |||||||||
Distribution | North America; Eurasia; Atlantic Islands (Iceland)
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AK; MT; WA; WY; AB; BC; Greenland; w Eurasia; Atlantic Islands (Iceland) |
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Discussion | Varieties 3 (3 in the flora). Pseudoleskea radicosa is a common and variable species found at moderate to high elevations; the capsules mature in summer. Two of the three varieties are quite distinctive. Pseudoleskea radicosa is closely related to P. incurvata but differs in the longer, more homogeneous, thin-walled, and wider laminal cells. Combined ecological, molecular and morphological studies of the varieties are needed to determine their distinctiveness. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Variety denudata is distinguished by the large size, long unbranched stems with hooked apices, strongly falcate-secund leaves, and often pluriplicate lamina. The alar cells are often prorate; capsules are very rare. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 28, p. 359. | FNA vol. 28, p. 360. | ||||||||
Parent taxa | Leskeaceae > Pseudoleskea | Leskeaceae > Pseudoleskea > Pseudoleskea radicosa | ||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||
Synonyms | Hypnum radicosum, Lescuraea radicosa | P. sciuroides var. denudata | ||||||||
Name authority | (Mitten) Macoun & Kindberg: Cat. Canad. Pl., Musci, 181. (1892) | (Kindberg) Wijk & Margadant: Taxon 9: 191. (1960) | ||||||||
Web links |