Specimen #6 Moss

Specimen 6: Moss

Figure 1: When dry, this species has a whitish green with a characteristic gray glossy appearance to them; leaves curl when dry.

Figure 2: When wet, leave are brighter green and lose gray glossy appearance; gently sweep to one side.

Figure 3: Leaves are hairlike and approximately 4-8 mm long; curved upward, appearing tube-like.

Figure 4: Leaf made entirely of the midrib, except at the base.

Figure 5: The tip of the leaf is very finely toothed, as imaged above.

Scientific Name: Paraleucobryum longifolium
Common Name: Silver Bloom Moss
Order: Dicranales
Family: Dicranaceae
Collection Date: September 17, 2015
Habitat: Rocks or boulders in moist forests
Location: Cleveland Metro Parks - Chargin Falls,  OH
Description: Tip finely toothed, when dry- whitish green/grey shade, when wet- more green, gently curls to one side on plant, midrib composed of alternating clear and green cells
Collector: Breanna Beltz

Key Used: McKnight, K.B, Rohrer, J.R., et al. 2013. Common Mosses of the Northeast and Appalachians. Princeton University Press. Princeton, NJ.

Key Steps:

• Acrocarpous 
• Leaf shape: Hair-like
• Midrib: Yes
• Key I, pp. 341
• Plants > 1 cm tall --> 3
• Leaves swept to one side of stem --> 4
• Gray green/ white green - individual plants with leaves swept to one side, but not all plants swept to same side --> Paraleucobryum longifolium pp. 43

Ecology: Often found intermixed in cushions of Dicranium fuscescens (Flagmeier, 2013).

Links:

http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=200001018
http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=PALOS2
http://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:catalogueoflife.org:taxon:ed066356-29c1-102b-9a4a-00304854f820:col20120124#tab_classification
http://www.researchgate.net/publication/259369480_Paraleucobryum_longifolium_%28Hedw.%29_Loeske_in_Scotland

Bryopsida Links:

http://tolweb.org/Bryopsida
http://www.dlia.org/class-bryopsida
http://plants.usda.gov/java/ClassificationServlet?source=profile&symbol=Bryopsida&display=31
http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/bryophyta.htm
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/plants/bryophyta/bryophyta.html