Pterigynandrum filiforme |
Pterigynandraceae |
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capillary granite moss, capillary wing-moss, pterigynandrum moss |
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Habit | Plants small, in wiry wefts, prostrate mats, or threadlike, dark or olive green to yellowish. | |||||||||||||
Stem(s) | leaves 0.6–1 mm; alar cells small, subquadrate; distal laminal cells curved. |
erect to ± creeping, freely and irregularly branched to subpinnate; paraphyllia few or absent; pseudoparaphyllia foliose. |
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Leaves | erect to erect-spreading or occasionally squarrose, often homomallous, usually imbricate, concave, stem leaves often somewhat larger than branch leaves; margins entire, serrulate, or subentire; apex usually acuminate; ecostate or costa single, double, or 2-fid, short or to mid leaf; alar cells not or weakly differentiated; medial laminal cells quadrate, rhomboidal, or oblong-rhomboidal, smooth or papillose. |
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Seta | 0.5–1.5 cm. |
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Sexual condition | dioicous. |
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Capsule | 1–2.5 mm, smooth; peristome diplolepidous; exostome teeth 16, lanceolate, short; endostome segments 16, linear, stout. |
erect or horizontal, short-cylindric; operculum short-rostrate or conic, cucullate; peristome double. |
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Spores | 11–13 µm. |
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Pterigynandrum filiforme |
Pterigynandraceae |
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Habitat | Mesic, rock shelves in montane forests, acidic rock | |||||||||||||
Elevation | low to high elevations | |||||||||||||
Distribution |
AK; CA; CO; ID; MA; ME; MI; MN; MT; NC; NH; NY; OR; PA; SD; TN; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; NB; NL; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; YT; Central America; Europe; Greenland; West Indies; Asia
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Nearly worldwide; temperate and tropical regions |
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Discussion | Pterigynandrum filiforme is characterized by its slender, sleek, braided stems trailing down the sides of acidic rock. The somewhat curved, ovate, rather blunt leaves, and rhombic, coarsely prorulose laminal cells are additional identifying features. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Genera 6, species 28 (4 genera, 8 species in the flora). Five of the genera of Pterigynandraceae are restricted to the Northern Hemisphere, including all genera found in the flora area. The one exception, Trachyphyllum A. Gepp, is widely distributed in tropical and subtropical areas throughout Africa, central parts of South America, and southern Asia. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 28, p. 368. | FNA vol. 28, p. 366. | ||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Pterigynandraceae > Pterigynandrum | |||||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||||||
Name authority | Hedwig: Sp. Musc. Frond., 81. (1801) | Schimper | ||||||||||||
Web links |