Tortula muralis
Tortula subulata
tortula moss, wall screw-moss
awl-leaf screw-moss, tortula moss
ovate or elliptic to obovate, apex broadly acute to rounded or emarginate, short- to long-awned, margins narrowly recurved or revolute to near apex, commonly bordered distally with 2–4 rows of thicker-walled, papillose to smooth cells;
costa long-excurrent, lacking an adaxial pad of cells, distally narrow, 3–4(–6) cells across the convex adaxial surface;
distal laminal cells hexagonal, 10–15 µm wide, 1:1, strongly papillose with 2(–4)-fid papillae.
oblong-lanceolate to long-elliptical, apex acute, mucronate, margins recurved at base, bordered in proximal 2/3 to throughout with 3–5 rows of thicker-walled cells, 1–3:1;
costa short-excurrent, lacking an adaxial pad of cells, distally very gradually narrowing, 3–5 cells across the weakly convex adaxial surface;
distal laminal cells rounded-hexagonal, (10–)15–18 µm wide, 1:1, strongly papillose with 4–5 2-fid papillae.
0.6–1.5 cm.
1–3 cm.
autoicous.
autoicous.
stegocarpic, not systylius, cylindric, erect and nearly straight, urn 1.5–2.7 mm;
peristome 300 µm, teeth of 32 filaments twisted 1/2–2 times, basal membrane low, to 50 µm;
operculum 0.6–1 mm.
stegocarpic, not systylius, cylindric, erect and nearly straight, urn 4–6 mm;
peristome 1700–2000 µm, teeth of 32 filaments twisted at least 1 full turn, basal membrane high, ca. 1000 µm;
operculum ca. 1.5–2.5 mm.
8–12 µm, spheric, finely papillose or essentially smooth.
(8–)12–18 µm, spheric, finely papillose.
exerted.
exerted.
Tortula muralis
Tortula subulata
Tortula muralis, T. brevipes, and T. plinthobia form an apparently intergrading cline in sporophyte characters, sexual condition, and elaboration of the leaf border. There may be evolutionary advantages associated with such variability, but specimens are occasionally difficult to name satisfactorily. The laminal border of 2–4 rows of thicker walled cells is usually hidden in the margin recurvature except at the leaf apex.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Forms of Tortula subulata may approach T. mucronifolia in the indistinct laminal border, though the laminal cells are quite papillose. The European var. angustata (Schimper) Limpricht, characterized by narrower leaves, a more acute, denticulate apex, with a stronger border, is not recognized here because North American plants that approach this variant fully intergrade with the typical variety (see discussion by W. C. Steere 1939c). The former has recently been recognized on the basis of molecular data by M. J. Cano et al. (2005) under the name T. schimperi Cano, Werner & Guerra. The cladogram branch arrangement, however, had only a 0.77 posterior probability of not being imbedded among specimens of T. subulata and only one morphological trait (the 2-stratose basal leaf margin) was selected post hoc as meaningful, a multiple test problem in statistics. Of the six specimens of T. schimperi analyzed and molecularly segregated, four were from Europe and two from California, which indicates at least one shared molecular trait. Further research, however, is needed, given odd segregation patterns in T. subulata in the strict sense.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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