Plant Guide > Mosses and Lichens > Mosses > Genus Anomodon > Anomodon Attenuatus Moss

Anomodon Attenuatus Moss

Anomodon attenuatus, Hueben.

Habit and habitat.-In loose wide tufts on roots of trees and on rocks along streams; common.

Name.-The specific name attenuatus, slender, refers to the branches.

Plants (gametophyte).-Irregularly branched and intricate, the branches short and rather obtuse; 1 to 2 inches high, or elongated and whiplike with minute leaves.

Leaves. -Spreading or turned to one side ; oblong lance-shaped from a widely oval base ; apex acute with a tiny sharp point ; base narrow at the point of attachment and growing slightly down the stem; margin plane, minutely wavy, with papilla; ; vein translucent, vanishing below the apex ; surfaces densely covered with tiny protuberances.

Habit of flowering. -Male and female flowers on separate plants (dioicous).

Veil (calyptra).-Split up one side.

Pedicel (seta).-Twisted, 3/4 of an inch long.

Spore-case.-Red-brown, shining, cylindrical, straight or slightly curved.

Lid (operculum).-Conic and beaked.

Teeth (peristome).-Narrowly lance-shaped; segments of the inner membrane, thread-like, fragile and irregular.

Annulus.-Narrow.

Spores.-Mature in autumn, not found in Britain.

Distribution.-North America, Europe and Asia.