Thursday 6 March 2014

Syntrichia ruralis

This delightful moss was picked up from the ground, again in Inverkeithing harbour, where it grew with other mosses on a concrete base of a demolished building. At first I thought it might be ruraliformis but had to accept in the end that it probably wasn't (see factoids below). It is at least ruralis S.L. I now realise the leaf tip shots I took are on another camera!

Syntrichia factoids
Syntrichia is a genus in the Pottiales
Syntrichia is a genus which was formed when several species were "pulled out" from Tortula
Syntrichia ruralis has a toothed, hyaline/silvery hairpoint
Syntrichia ruralis has leaves which are c5mm in length, papillose at the tip, and have recurved margins
Syntrichia ruralis leaves curve away from the stem when moist, but twist when dry
Syntrichia ruralis likes calcareous substrates
Syntrichia ruralis susbsp. ruraliformis leaves have a more acutely tapering leaf below the hairpoint








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