Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Tetraphis pellucida

common four-tooth moss, pellucid four-tooth moss, tetraphis moss
Seta

6–14 mm, erect, straight or ± flexuose, superficial cells smooth and spirally twisted the entire length or spirally twisted and interspersed with sections of prorulate straight cells.
Spores

10–13 µm.
Specialized

asexual structures are usually present.

Tetraphis pellucida
Distribution
from USDA
Throughout Northern Hemisphere
[WildflowerSearch map]
Discussion

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

Using growth studies, R. T. T. Forman (1962) suggested that leaf width and shape are influenced by temperature but could be used for species determination in some areas of North America, although it appears to be an inconsistent character and should be used with caution to determine sterile material. The varieties are distinguished by twisting of the superficial cells of the seta in both old, dry, and young, fresh material; the seta itself is twisted when dry.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Seta smooth, superficial cells spirally twisted throughout entire length
var. pellucida
1. Seta usually lightly papillose near base, superficial cells spirally twisted but interspersed with sections of straight cell
var. trachypoda
Source FNA vol. 27, p. 112.
Parent taxa Tetraphidaceae > Tetraphis
Sibling taxa
T. geniculata
Subordinate taxa
T. pellucida var. pellucida, T. pellucida var. trachypoda
Synonyms Georgia pellucida, T. cuspidata
Name authority Hedwig: Sp. Musc. Frond., 45, plate 7, fig. 1a–f. (1801)
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).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Fabaceae, Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers