Flora of North America species comparison

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Ptychomitrium gardneri

Ptychomitrium drummondii

Gardner's ptychomitrium moss

Drummond's ptychomitrium moss
Habit Plants robust, tufted, glossy, green to dark green. Plants small, cespitose, dull, yellowish to dark green.
Stems

erect or repent, to 5 cm.

erect, to 0.5 cm.
Leaves

crispate-contorted when dry, narrowly acuminate, 4–6 mm;

margins coarsely serrate distally, recurved on one or both sides proximally;

apex plane or with erect margins but not cucullate.

erect-appressed and straight or slightly flexuous when dry, broadly acuminate, 1.5–2 mm;

margins mostly obscurely serrate distally, erect proximally;

apex subcucullate.
Seta

1–2(–3) per perichaetium, 4–10 mm.

1 per perichaetium, 2–3 mm.
Capsule

cylindric, 2.5 mm, smooth to weakly striate-ribbed when dry;

peristome teeth divided into filiform segments, densely papillose.

ovoid, 0.75–1 mm, smooth to obscurely striate-ribbed when dry;

peristome teeth undivided, papillose.
Calyptra

lobes 1/2 or more length of calyptra.

lobes one third to one half length of calyptra.
Specialized

asexual reproduction absent.

asexual reproduction absent.

Ptychomitrium gardneri

Ptychomitrium drummondii
Phenology Capsules mature Mar–Sep. Capsules mature Sep–May.
Habitat Limestone, basalt, and other rocks, and concrete, rarely soil, logs, and charred wood, open sites, especially along rivers Tree bark, rarely rock and soil, humid sites
Elevation low to moderate elevations (0-1400 m) (low to moderate elevations (0-4600 ft)) low to moderate elevations (0-300 m) (low to moderate elevations (0-1000 ft))
Distribution
from FNA
CA; ID; MT; OR; WA; BC; Asia
[WildflowerSearch map]
from FNA
AL; AR; DE; FL; GA; IL; LA; MO; MS; NC; OK; SC; TN; TX; VA; WV
Discussion

Ptychomitrium gardneri are robust glossy plants easy to recognize by their green to dark green color, serrate, acuminate leaves, and narrow lobes of the deeply divided calyptra. The lobes of dry mature calyptrae often spread outward like the spokes of a wheel. The leaves are much longer and more narrowly acuminate than those of the somewhat similar P. serratum; the ranges of the latter and of P. gardneri do not overlap.

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

The leaves of Ptychomitrium drummondii are erect-appressed and straight or only a little curved when dry and, together with the bark substrate, make this dull dark green little moss easy to recognize. Sporophytes are very frequent and abundant. In urban areas in the southeastern United States, P. drummondii is often frequent and abundant on trees in parks and campuses and along city streets.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 27, p. 308. FNA vol. 27, p. 309.
Parent taxa Ptychomitriaceae > Ptychomitrium Ptychomitriaceae > Ptychomitrium
Sibling taxa
P. drummondii, P. incurvum, P. serratum, P. sinense
P. gardneri, P. incurvum, P. serratum, P. sinense
Synonyms Grimmia drummondii
Name authority Lesquereux: Mem. Calif. Acad. Sci. 1: 16. (1868) (Wilson) Sullivant: in A. Gray, Manual ed. 2, 636. (1856)
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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