Flora of North America species comparison

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Pseudoscleropodium purum

neat feather-moss, pseudoscleropodium moss
Habit Plants in soft carpets or turfs.
Stem(s)

leaves incurved, 2–2.5 mm;

margins plane;

apiculus abruptly reflexed;

costa single;

laminal cells 50–80 µm, smooth.
Branch leaves

1–2 mm.
Sporophytes

unknown in North America.

Pseudoscleropodium purum
Habitat Lawns of urban areas, cemeteries, forest edges, discarded lawn clippings
Elevation low to moderate elevations
Distribution
from FNA
MA; ME; MI; NH; NY; OR; WA; HI; BC; NF; NS; SPM; South America; Europe; Asia (Japan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka); n Africa; Atlantic Islands (Azores, Canary Islands, Iceland, Madeira, St Helena, Tristan da Cunha); Indian Ocean Islands (Reunion) [Introduced in North America; introduced also in West Indies (Jamaica)]
[WildflowerSearch map]
Discussion

Pseudoscleropodium purum is considered a troublesome lawn weed on the Pacific coast, leading to a thriving moss-killer industry. The species is tolerant of mowing and two to three months of summer drying, and it flourishes in winter. It is always in anthropogenic habitats, and was probably introduced in packing material for nursery stock, possibly disseminated inadvertently from one lawn to another by professional lawn-care workers. Additional information on this unusual moss has been presented by E. Lawton (1960), N. G. Miller (2000), and Miller and N. Trigoboff (2001).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 28, p. 452.
Parent taxa Brachytheciaceae > Pseudoscleropodium
Synonyms Hypnum purum, Scleropodium purum
Name authority (Hedwig) M. Fleischer ex Brotherus: in H. G. A. Engler et al., Nat. Pflanzenfam. ed. 2, 11: 395. (1925)
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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