Ciliate Hedwigia Moss

Description

The irregularly branched moss often forms extensive lawns. The stems, which can be up to 10 cm in length, grow more or less upright at the tips of the shoots and are then up to 3 cm high. The leaves, when dry, are more or less attached to the stem; in moist, they are rather sparingly protruding , often a little unilaterally. They are somewhat hollow, rippled, elongated in shape, and drawn out at the front into a translucent ( hyaline ) tip. This is toothed, while the rest of the leaf margin is smooth. The hyaline part of the leaf often runs down a little at the edge of the leaf. It gives the moss a pale or whitish-green hue in the moist state, a gray color in the dry state. The cells of the leaf blade are irregularly thick-walled in the upper part, roundish, and often populated with branched papillae . Against the base of the leaf they are longer and spotted. The globular capsule is almost undisturbed and therefore inserted into the leaves. It has no peristome , but conical, cap- shaped calyptra.