Rhytidiadelphus triquetrus “Pleated Shaggy Moss”

Sample #11: : Rhytidiadelphus triquetrus  “Pleated Shaggy Moss”

Figure 1: detail of Rhytidiadelphus triquetrus stem and leaf branches; once pinnate branching evident

Figure 2: detail of leaves; midrib too faint for identification; note microscopic "teeth" on leaf edges in middle right

Phylum: Bryophyta

Family: Hylocomiaceae

Collection Date: 16 October, 2016

Collector: Kristen Maslach

Habitat: Forest soil in conifer forests, openings in hardwood forests, woods enriched with calcium, along streams

Location: Soil, close to a seasonal stream, Mantua, Ohio

Description: creeping to upright; foum bushy mats; leaves green and close together with red stems; leaves triangular egg-shaped tapering to a pointed tip; weak midrib; leaf edges have microscopic teeth

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 Key:

                Plerocarp, faint midrib

                “Pinnately branched (like a feather or fern frond) (pg365)”

                “Stems once pinnate (pg365)”

                Found on soil

                “Large and shaggy (pg365)”

Resources:

http://blogs.ubc.ca/biology321/?page_id=524

http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=RHTR70