Flora of North America species comparison

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Ptychomitrium gardneri

Ptychomitrium sinense

Gardner's ptychomitrium moss
Habit Plants robust, tufted, glossy, green to dark green. Plants medium size, cespitose, glossy, yellowish green.
Stems

erect or repent, to 5 cm.

erect, to 1 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.

crispate-curled when dry, broadly acuminate, mostly 2.5–4 mm;

margins entire distally, plane proximally;

apex cucullate to subcucullate.
Seta

1–2(–3) per perichaetium, 4–10 mm.

1 per perichaetium, 3–4 mm.
Capsule

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

peristome teeth divided into filiform segments, densely papillose.

ovoid, 1.5 mm, irregularly wrinkled when dry;

peristome teeth divided into triangular segments, smooth.
Calyptra

lobes 1/2 or more length of calyptra.

lobes half or more length of calyptra.
Specialized

asexual reproduction absent.

asexual reproduction absent.

Ptychomitrium gardneri

Ptychomitrium sinense
Phenology Capsules mature Mar–Sep. Capsules mature Jan–Jun.
Habitat Limestone, basalt, and other rocks, and concrete, rarely soil, logs, and charred wood, open sites, especially along rivers Basic and acidic rocks, occasionally soil or wood, forests
Elevation low to moderate elevations (0-1400 m) (low to moderate elevations (0-4600 ft)) low to high elevations (100-2000 m) (low to high elevations (300-6600 ft))
Distribution
from FNA
CA; ID; MT; OR; WA; BC; Asia
[WildflowerSearch map]
from FNA
AR; AZ; MO; NM; OK; TX; Mexico; Asia
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.)

Plants of Ptychomitrium sinense are dark green and glossy; the leaves are tightly crispate when dry with the tips often circinate. The glossy pale or often brownish costa is very conspicuous in dry plants and is especially characteristic for this moss. When moist the leaf tips tend to be involute-cucullate and often falcate or somewhat uncinate.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 27, p. 308. FNA vol. 27, p. 308.
Parent taxa Ptychomitriaceae > Ptychomitrium Ptychomitriaceae > Ptychomitrium
Sibling taxa
P. drummondii, P. incurvum, P. serratum, P. sinense
P. drummondii, P. gardneri, P. incurvum, P. serratum
Synonyms Glyphomitrium sinense, P. leibergii
Name authority Lesquereux: Mem. Calif. Acad. Sci. 1: 16. (1868) (Mitten) A. Jaeger: Ber. Thätigk. St. Gallischen Naturwiss. Ges. 1872–1873: 104. (1874)
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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