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Moss characters

Bryopsida species by details of the leaves

FUNARIALES
Funariaceae	Hairpoint	Recurved	Excurrent	Percurrent	Near tip	½ to ¾	¼	Double	No costa	Substrate	Habitat
Funaria hygrometrica										Bare soil	Woods, gardens

GRIMMIALES
Grimmiaceae	Hairpoint	Recurved	Excurrent	Percurrent	Near tip	½ to ¾	¼	Double	No costa	Substrate	Habitat
Grimmia laevigata
Racomitrium fasciculare										Siliceous rocks	Uplands
Racomitrium heterostichum										Siliceous rocks	Uplands
Racomitrium lanuginosum										Rock, peat	Heaths, uplands
Schistidium rivulare

DICRANALES
Fissidentaceae	Hairpoint	Recurved	Excurrent	Percurrent	Near tip	½ to ¾	¼	Double	No costa	Substrate	Habitat
Fissidens bryoides										Soil, decaying wood
Fissidens dubius
Ditrichaceae	Hairpoint	Recurved	Excurrent	Percurrent	Near tip	½ to ¾	¼	Double	No costa	Substrate	Habitat
Ceratodon purpureus										Soil, wall-tops, rotten wood	Ubiquitous
Rhabdoweisiaceae	Hairpoint	Recurved	Excurrent	Percurrent	Near tip	½ to ¾	¼	Double	No costa	Substrate	Habitat
Dicranoweisia cirrata										Trees, wooden posts	Especially common in lowlands
Dicranaceae	Hairpoint	Recurved	Excurrent	Percurrent	Near tip	½ to ¾	¼	Double	No costa	Substrate	Habitat
Dichodontium palustre										Peat, wet moors, dripping acidic rock faces	Wet moors and uplands in the north-west of the United Kingdom
Leucobryaceae	Hairpoint	Recurved	Excurrent	Percurrent	Near tip	½ to ¾	¼	Double	No costa	Substrate	Habitat

POTTIALES
Pottiaceae	Hairpoint	Recurved	Excurrent	Percurrent	Near tip	½ to ¾	¼	Double	No costa	Substrate	Habitat
Barbula unguiculata										Soil, stony ground	Banks, fallow fields, wall crevices
Barbula sardoa
Gyroweisia tenuis										Rock slabs, mainly limestone
Syntrichia ruralis										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

SPLACHNALES
Splachnaceae	Hairpoint	Recurved	Excurrent	Percurrent	Near tip	½ to ¾	¼	Double	No costa	Substrate	Habitat
Tetraplodon mnioides										Well-decayed sheep bone fragments	Mountainous districts

BRYALES
Bryaceae	Hairpoint	Recurved	Excurrent	Percurrent	Near tip	½ to ¾	¼	Double	No costa	Substrate	Habitat
Bryum alpinum										Rocks, trees, fences	Lowlands and mountains
Bryum argenteum										Rocks, trees, fences	Lowlands and mountains
Bryum capillare										Rocks, trees, fences	Lowlands and mountains
Bryum pallens										Rocks, trees, fences	Lowlands and mountains
Bryum pseudotriquetrum										Wet ground, cliff ledges	Bogs, marshes and by springs
Mniaceae	Hairpoint	Recurved	Excurrent	Percurrent	Near tip	½ to ¾	¼	Double	No costa	Substrate	Habitat
Pohlia melanodon
Pohlia wahlenbergia
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	Hairpoint	Recurved	Excurrent	Percurrent	Near tip	½ to ¾	¼	Double	No costa	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	Hairpoint	Recurved	Excurrent	Percurrent	Near tip	½ to ¾	¼	Double	No costa	Substrate	Habitat
Orthotrichum diaphanum										Trees, fences, roadside pavments, wall-tops	Flourishes in towns
Ulota bruchii
Ulota phyllantha

HEDWIGIALES
Hedwigiaceae	Hairpoint	Recurved	Excurrent	Percurrent	Near tip	½ to ¾	¼	Double	No costa	Substrate	Habitat
Hedwigia stellata

RHIZOGONIALES
Aulacomniaceae	Hairpoint	Recurved	Excurrent	Percurrent	Near tip	½ to ¾	¼	Double	No costa	Substrate	Habitat
Aulacomnium androgynum
Aulacomnium palustre

HYPNALES
Climaciaceae	Hairpoint	Recurved	Excurrent	Percurrent	Near tip	½ to ¾	¼	Double	No costa	Substrate	Habitat
Climacium dendroides
Amblystegiaceae	Hairpoint	Recurved	Excurrent	Percurrent	Near tip	½ to ¾	¼	Double	No costa	Substrate	Habitat
Calliergonella cuspidata
Palustriella commutata
Thuidiaceae	Hairpoint	Recurved	Excurrent	Percurrent	Near tip	½ to ¾	¼	Double	No costa	Substrate	Habitat
Thuidium tamariscinum
Brachytheciaceae	Hairpoint	Recurved	Excurrent	Percurrent	Near tip	½ to ¾	¼	Double	No costa	Substrate	Habitat
Brachythecium albicans
Brachythecium populeum
Brachythecium rutabulum
Eurhynchium striatum
Kindbergia praelonga
Pseudoscleropodium purum
Rhynchostegium confertum
Hypnaceae	Hairpoint	Recurved	Excurrent	Percurrent	Near tip	½ to ¾	¼	Double	No costa	Substrate	Habitat
Hypnum cupressiforme
Hypnum jutlandicum
Hylocomiaceae	Hairpoint	Recurved	Excurrent	Percurrent	Near tip	½ to ¾	¼	Double	No costa	Substrate	Habitat
Ctenidium molluscum
Hylocomium splendens
Pleurozium schreberi
Rhytidiadelphus loreus
Rhytidiadelphus squarrosus
Rhytidiadelphus triquetris
Plagiotheciaceae	Hairpoint	Recurved	Excurrent	Percurrent	Near tip	½ to ¾	¼	Double	No costa	Substrate	Habitat
Plagiothecium undulatum
Leucodontaceae	Hairpoint	Recurved	Excurrent	Percurrent	Near tip	½ to ¾	¼	Double	No costa	Substrate	Habitat
Leucodon sciuroides
Pterygonium gracile

Go back to: Moss details of the leaves 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

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Plant growth habit

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Shoot growth form / colour

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Arrangement of the leaves

Details of the leaves table

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Reproductive structures

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Summary

The moss line