Plant Guide > Mosses and Lichens > Mosses > Genus Bartramia > Apple Moss

Apple Moss

Apple MossThe Apple-moss, mia pomiformis, Hedw.

Habit and habitat.-In soft bright or yellow-green tufts on shady banks and in clefts of rocks.

Name.-From the Latin pomum, apple, and forma, form, referring to the spore-cases.

Plant (gametophyte).Stems 1 to 3 inches high with densely felted hairs below.

Leaves.-Long, open, and somewhat twisted w h e n moist, more erect and crisped when dry. Narrowly linear and awl-like from a paler base; vein extending beyond the apex to form a spiny awn; margin sharply serrate above, rolled back from the middle downward.

Habit of flowering. -Male and female flowers on the same plant (monoicous).

Veil (calyptra).-Conical, split up one side, falling early.

Spore-case.-Spherical, grooved longitudinally.

Pedicel (seta).-Slender, 2 an inch high.

Teeth (Peristome).-Outer teeth regular, densely cross-barred, inner segments shorter than the teeth and cleft, cilia imperfect or none.

Annulus.-None.

Spores.-Mature in spring.

Distribution. -Universal.