This specimen of Hyophiladelphus was found growing on imported red pumice used in a landscaping in Pinellas County (Essig 20120818-1 USF). In Florida, it is typically found on limestone. |
Hyophiladelphus agrarius (Hedw.) R. H. Zander (Pottiaceae) is one of many Florida mosses that is found only on limestone or other calcareous materials. The single species in this genus is found throughout the southeastern United States, from Texas to South Carolina, and throughout tropical America. It has at times been included in the related genus Barbula, but differs in its more compact, rosette-like shoots, and the lack of papillae (small, hard, round bumps) on the leaves. Another related genus, Tortella, has a distinctive V-shaped pattern of clear cells at the base of the leaf, by which it can be distinguished.
All of these genera, and a few others in the family, have long, hair-like teeth, twisted around the opening of the capsule.
A colony of Hyophiladelphus, dried out at the time of the photograph, occupies pockets in the eroded surface of a limestone boulder. (Essig 20150402-2, USF) |
The long, hair-like teeth (peristome) around the mouth of the capusle are twisted around each other. (Essig 20060931-1, USF) |
At the base of the leaf, the cells are greatly enlarged, more or less rectangular, and sometimes brownish. (Essig 20150527-2, USAF) |
Cells in the upper part of the leaf are compact and roughly squarrish to rectangular. (Essig 20120818-1, USF) |
When dry, the leaves of Hyophiladelphus roll into a curved, tube-like configuration. In these old capsules the long, twisted peristome teeth have mostly fallen off. (Essig20150404-2, USF) |
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