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Moss characters

Bryopsida species by plant growth habit

FUNARIALES
Funariaceae	Cushions	Mounds	Carpets	Single	Tiny	Substrate	Habitat
Funaria hygrometrica						Bare soil	Woods, gardens

GRIMMIALES
Grimmiaceae	Cushions	Mounds	Carpets	Single	Tiny	Substrate	Habitat
Grimmia laevigata
Racomitrium heterostichum						Siliceous rocks	Uplands
Racomitrium fasciculare						Siliceous rocks	Uplands
Racomitrium lanuginosum						Rock, peat	Heaths, uplands
Schistidium maritimum						Rocks	Coastal

DICRANALES
Fissidentaceae	Cushions	Mounds	Carpets	Single	Tiny	Substrate	Habitat
Fissidens bryoides						Soil, decaying wood
Fissidens dubius
Ditrichaceae	Cushions	Mounds	Carpets	Single	Tiny	Substrate	Habitat
Ceratodon purpureus						Soil, wall-tops, rotten wood	Ubiquitous
Rhabdoweisiaceae	Cushions	Mounds	Carpets	Single	Tiny	Substrate	Habitat
Dicranoweisia cirrata						Trees, wooden posts	Especially common in lowlands
Amphidium mougeotii						Wet rock faces and crevices	Sheltered site in hilly districts
Dicranaceae	Cushions	Mounds	Carpets	Single	Tiny	Substrate	Habitat
Campylopus atrovirens						Peat, wet moors, dripping acidic rock faces	Wet moors and uplands in north-west UK
Leucobryaceae	Cushions	Mounds	Carpets	Single	Tiny	Substrate	Habitat
Leucobryum						Leaf mould or peat bogs	Woodland or wet moorlands

POTTIALES
Pottiaceae	Cushions	Mounds	Carpets	Single	Tiny	Substrate	Habitat
Barbula unguiculata						Soil, stony ground	Banks, fallow fields, wall crevices
Barbula sardoa
Gymnostomum aeruginosum						Wet base-rich rock faces and crevices
Gyroweisia tenuis						Rock slabs, mainly limestone
Pseudocrossidium revolutum
Syntrichia ruralis ssp. ruraliformis						Sand dunes and calcareous sand	Mainly coastal.
Syntrichia laevipila						Tree trunks and limbs	Prefers dry sites
Tortula muralis						Brick and stone walls	Common in towns
Trichostomum brachydontium						On rock including wall-tops, sometimes bare soil	Mainly western coastal districts
Tortella tortuosa						Neutral to calcareous rock and soil	Uplands
Weissia controversa						Bare soil or soil-filled rock crevices	Loamy banks; less calcareous rocks

SPLACHNALES
Splachnaceae	Cushions	Mounds	Carpets	Single	Tiny	Substrate	Habitat
Tetraplodon mnioides						Well-decayed sheep bone fragments	Mountainous districts

BRYALES
Bryaceae	Cushions	Mounds	Carpets	Single	Tiny	Substrate	Habitat
Bryum capillare						Rocks, trees, fences	Lowlands and mountains
Bryum alpinum						Moist siliceous rocks	Moorland and mountain
Bryum argenteum						Paving, roadsides, roofs and wall-tops	Man-made environments and by gull colonies
Bryum pallens						Moist sediments, damp walls, sand dune slacks	Uplands by streams; lowlands mostly on clay
Bryum pseudotriquetrum						Wet ground, cliff ledges	Bogs, marshes and by springs
Mniaceae	Cushions	Mounds	Carpets	Single	Tiny	Substrate	Habitat
Pohlia wahlenbergii						Clay, wet rock	Lowlands and mountains
Mnium hornum						Humus, peat, rotten wood, rock ledges	Varied including Beech woods and grassy areas near the sea
Plagiomnium ellipticum						Soil and soil-covered rocks; neutral to base-rich	Shady places in woods, banks and rock crevices; also bogs
Rhizomnium punctatum						Wet, stony streambanks, deep rock clefts, decaying tree stumps and logs	Shady, damp rocky areas and woodlands

BARTRAMIALES
Bartramiaceae	Cushions	Mounds	Carpets	Single	Tiny	Substrate	Habitat
Bartramia pomiformis						Sand and rocks; calcifuge	Sandy banks in lowlands; rocks in mountainous districts
Philonotis fontana						Acidic to neutral ground	Flushes in uplands, springs and bogs

ORTHOTRICHALES
Orthotrichaceae	Cushions	Mounds	Carpets	Single	Tiny	Substrate	Habitat
Orthotrichum cupulatum						On calcareous rocks
Orthotrichum diaphanum						Trees, fences, roadside pavments, wall-tops	Flourishes in towns
Orthotrichum rivulare
Orthotrichum stramineum
Ulota bruchii
Ulota phyllantha

HEDWIGIALES
Hedwigiaceae	Cushions	Mounds	Carpets	Single	Tiny	Substrate	Habitat
Hedwigia stellata

RHIZOGONIALES
Aulacomniaceae	Cushions	Mounds	Carpets	Single	Tiny	Substrate	Habitat
Aulacomnium androgynum
Aulacomnium palustre

HOOKERIALES
Hookeriaceae	Cushions	Mounds	Carpets	Single	Tiny	Substrate	Habitat
Hookeria lucens

HYPNALES
Climaciaceae	Cushions	Mounds	Carpets	Single	Tiny	Substrate	Habitat
Climacium dendroides
Amblystegiaceae	Cushions	Mounds	Carpets	Single	Tiny	Substrate	Habitat
Amblystegium serpens
Palustriella commutata
Calliergon giganteum
Calliergonella cuspidata
Cratoneuron filicinum
Calliergonaceae	Cushions	Mounds	Carpets	Single	Tiny	Substrate	Habitat
Warnstorfia fluitans
Thuidiaceae	Cushions	Mounds	Carpets	Single	Tiny	Substrate	Habitat
Thuidium tamariscinum
Brachytheciaceae	Cushions	Mounds	Carpets	Single	Tiny	Substrate	Habitat
Brachythecium albicans
Brachythecium populeum
Brachythecium rutabulum
Eurhynchium striatum
Kindbergia praelonga
Pseudoscleropodium purum
Rhynchostegium confertum
Hypnaceae	Cushions	Mounds	Carpets	Single	Tiny	Substrate	Habitat
Hypnum cupressiforme
Hypnum jutlandicum
Hylocomiaceae	Cushions	Mounds	Carpets	Single	Tiny	Substrate	Habitat
Ctenidium molluscum
Hylocomium splendens
Pleurozium schreberi
Rhytidiadelphus loreus
Rhytidiadelphus triquetris
Plagiotheciaceae	Cushions	Mounds	Carpets	Single	Tiny	Substrate	Habitat
Plagiothecium undulatum
Leucodontaceae	Cushions	Mounds	Carpets	Single	Tiny	Substrate	Habitat
Leucodon sciuroides
Pterygonium gracile
Neckeraceae	Cushions	Mounds	Carpets	Single	Tiny	Substrate	Habitat
Thamnobryum alopecurum

Go back to: Moss plant growth habit character lists

Taxonomic hierarchy after Buck and Goffinet (2000).
Only Class Bryopsida, by far the largest class of mosses, is covered in the above table.
Growth habit terms in column headings are more fully described in the corresponding character lists page (from which this table was reached).
Substrate and habitat information derived from the BBS Field Guide and Watson, E.V., "British Mosses and Liverworts", CUP (1995).
A discussion on the correlations and trends that this table suggests will be published in due course.

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Bryophyte introduction

Plant growth habit table

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Shoot growth form / colour

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Arrangement of the leaves

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Details of the leaves

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Reproductive structures

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Summary

The moss line