Plant Guide > Mosses and Lichens > Mosses > Genus Grimmia > Grimmia Apocarpa Moss

Grimmia Apocarpa Moss

Grimmia apocarpa, Hedw.

Habit and habitat.-Loosely tufted to form olive-green or black tufts on rocks or stone walls or even on roofs. There are varieties which grow in streams.

Name.-The specific name apocarpa from the Greek for; without and; a fruit, was given by J. G. Hedwig, in 1787, to describe the hidden spore-case.

Plant (gametophyte).-Robust, the stems one inch long, branching in pairs, free from root-like fibres.

Leaves.-Lance-shaped, open when moist, erect when dry; apex sometimes slightly toothed, the upper leaves usually prolonged into a short, rough hair About one-quarter as long as the leaf; the base is concave, becoming keeled upward; margin recurved; the vein continued into the transparent hair, or vanishing below the apex; cells, the basal rectangular, then narrow, the upper rounded.

Leaves at the base of the pedicel ( perichaetial leaves).-Broader, thinner; vein narrow; apex with or without short point.

Habit of flowering.-Male and female flowers on separate part of the same plant (autoicous); mile flower-clusters bud-like.

Veil (calyptra).-Very small, not reaching below the lid, lobed at the base.

Spore-case.-Egg-shaped, almost concealed in the leaves at the base, red.

Pedicel.-Very short.

Lid (operculum).-Bright-red, tipped with a sharp point; columella attached to the lid and falling with it.

Annulus -None.

Teeth (peristome).-Arising below the mouth, large, purplered, entire or perforated, spreading when dry.

Spores.--Mature in winter.

Distribution.-Universal.