Plant Guide > Mosses and Lichens > Mosses > Genus Weisia > Weisia Viridula Moss

Weisia Viridula Moss

Habit and habitat.-Common, forming more or less compact cushions on the ground in meadows, broken fields, borders of ditches and grassy roadsides, where it is conspicuous for its bright green colour. Very variable.

Name.-The specific name viridula is the Latin diminutive of viridis, green.

Plants (gametophyte).-Stems about 1/4 of an inch long; simple or branched.

Leaves.-The lower minute ; the upper much larger, narrowly lance-shaped and curled when dry; base enlarged, pale, concave; vein (costa) stout and extending beyond the apex into a short sharp point ; margin inrolled in the upper part to form a tube, flat toward the base ; cells opaque, dot-like, with tiny projecting points.

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

Veil (calyptra).-Smooth, split on one side and reaching to the middle of the spore-case.

Spore-case. - Light-brown, oval, oblong, of thick texture, slightly constricted under the mouth, wrinkled lengthwise when dry.

Pedicel (seta).-1/6 to 2/6 of an inch long and twisted to the right.

Lid (operculum).-Beak, long, straight or bent obliquely.

Teeth (peristome).-Orange-red, variable, slender or broad, often ending abruptly (truncate) or split into two parts with 2 to 5 cross bars, sometimes rudimentary.

Annulus.-Narrow, persistent.

Spores.-Mature from March to May.

Distribution.-Universal.