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

Ulota hutchinsiae

Hutchins' ulota moss
Habit Plants 0.4–4 cm.
Stem(s)

leaves erect-appressed, stiff, ± slightly curled or twisted around stem, not contorted or crisped when dry, narrowly lanceolate-oblong to lanceolate, 1.4–2.2 mm;

base oblong;

margins ±recurved to near apex;

apex acute to obtuse;

basal laminal cells rectangular to elongate-rectangular;

distal cells 7–14 µm, papillae conic or clavate, small or large.
Seta

2.5–3.5 mm.
Sexual condition

autoicous;

perichaetial leaves not differentiated from stem leaves.
Capsule

oblong-elliptic to cylindric-fusiform, 1.1–2 mm, slightly to moderately 8-ribbed 1/3–1/2 length, mouth wide but constricted below mouth or evenly tapering to seta from mouth;

stomata in neck;

peristome double;

exostome teeth rarely split to 16, reflexed, densely papillose;

endostome segments 8, papillose-striate.
Calyptra

oblong-conic, very hairy.
Spores

9–16 µm.
Specialized

asexual reproduction absent.

Ulota hutchinsiae
Distribution
North America; Europe; Asia
[WildflowerSearch map]
Discussion

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

Ulota hutchinsiae is distributed continuously in eastern North America from Newfoundland and northern Quebec west to western Ontario and south to Georgia and Alabama, and is disjunct in western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma, the Black Hills of South Dakota, eastern Arizona, and southeastern Alaska. This species is distinguished by its erect, non-crisped leaves, cylindric, fully exserted capsules slightly smaller at the mouth, and poorly differentiated marginal basal cells. Ulota hutchinsiae resembles species of Orthotrichum, especially O. anomalum. However, O. anomalum occurs on calcareous substrates and has capsules with immersed stomata and eight long and eight short capsule ribs. Ulota curvifolia, another rock-growing species, is more northern in distribution and has somewhat twisted and curved leaves.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Leaves 1-stratose distally; distal laminal cells 8-14µm, walls thin, papillae small, conic.
var. hutchinsiae
1. Leaves 2-stratose distally; distal laminal cells 7-10µm, walls very incrassate, papillae large, clavate.
var. rufescens
Source FNA vol. 28, p. 76.
Parent taxa Orthotrichaceae > Ulota
Sibling taxa
U. barclayi, U. coarctata, U. crispa, U. curvifolia, U. drummondii, U. megalospora, U. obtusiuscula, U. phyllantha
Subordinate taxa
U. hutchinsiae var. hutchinsiae, U. hutchinsiae var. rufescens
Synonyms Orthotrichum hutchinsiae
Name authority (Smith) Hammar: Monogr. Orthotrich. Ulot. Suec., 27. (1852)
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