Ctenidium molluscum "Feather Comb Moss"

Sample #3:  Ctenidium molluscum   “Feather Comb Moss”

Figure 1: gametophyte strand of Ctenidium mollusscum

Figure 2: detail of group of leaves

Figure 3: detail of intact toothed sporophyte capsule

Phylum: Bryophyta

Family: Hypnaceae

Collection Date: September 8^th, 2016

Collector: Kristen Maslach

Habitat: Forest soil, rotting wood, and tree trunck bases; moist calcium-rich environments

Location: rotting tree stump, Hiram, Ohio

Description: pleurocarpous; sickle leaf with no midrib; terrestrial; short stem and capsules; leaves spiral and the tips point in different directions

Key Used: McKnight, Karl, Joseph Rohrer, Kirsten McKnight Ward and Warren Perdrizet (2013).  Common Mosses of the Northeast and Appalachians.  Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. 

Steps to Identify:

Pleurocarpous: “Stems branch freely and at a wide angle…tipically trail along the ground (pg 11)”

Sickle leaf with no midrib: “triangular or oval-shaped…tapered to a fine point curved to one side (pg 13)”

Terrestrial: “dry ti very moist habitats, not submerged or kept consistently wet (pg 356)”

Short stem and capsules: “leafy shoots (less than) 2 mm wide (pg 356)”

Spiraling leaves that point in different directions: “leaf tips curving in various directions; leaves not appearing to be braided (pg357)”

Resources: https://data.nbn.org.uk/Taxa/NHMSYS0000309385