Plant Guide > Mosses and Lichens > Mosses > Genus Barbula > Tufted Barbula Moss

Tufted Barbula Moss

The Tufted Barbula, Barbula caespitosa, Schwaegr.

Habit and habitat.-Common and variable, roots of trees in grassy places.

Name.-The specific name caespitosa, from the Latin caespes, turf, refers to the tufted manner of growth.

Plant (gametophyte).-Loosely tufted, soft, variable in size.

Leaves.-Long and narrow, more or less wavy, curled or bent in various directions and with a very narrow wavy point when dry: apex bearing a short sharp point; vein strong, yellow. prolonged beyond the leaf-blade; cells, the basal loose and transparent. the upper green and indistinct.

Habit of flowering.-Male and female flowers on the same plant (monoicous); male flowers in axillary buds, with short pedicels and two or three leaves.

Veil (calyptra).-Split up one side.

Spore-case.-Red, thin, long, egg-shaped, more or less incurved.

Pedicel.-Long and slender, twisted when dry.

Lid (operculum).-Conic, taper-pointed.

Teeth (peristome).-Basilar membrane none or scarcely visible; teeth very long, purple, twice or three times twisted.

Annulus. -None.

Spores.-Minute, greenish, translucent, smooth; mature in May and June and late summer.

Distribution.-Hills of the Southeastern States; also in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America.