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Antitrichia Moss (Antitrichia curtipendula)

Description

When growing luxuriantly, the reddish, branched stems form loose masses of shoots up to 20 cm long, and are often tinged golden yellow. The leaves are 2-2.5 mm long, and tend to curl over to one side, especially at the tip of shoots. They are loosely appressed when dry, but spread rapidly when moistened, are concave, longitudinally pleated and have a nerve extending for more than half the length of the leaf. They taper to a fine tip which is rather coarsely toothed. If the leaf is held up to the light and examined with a -20 hand lens it is usually possible to see that at least some of the teeth are recurved. The extreme tip of the leaf often has 2 or 3 such teeth, and thus resembles an anchor or grapnel. Capsules are rare.

Taxonomic tree

  • Domain: Eukarya

    • Kingdom: Plantae

      • Phylum: Bryophyta

        • Class: Bryopsida

          • Order: Leucodontales

            • Family: Leucodontaceae

              • Genus: Antitrichia