Climacium Dendroides Moss
Climacium dendroides, Web. & Mohr.Habit and habitat.-Bright green, tree-like, found in wet places.
Name.-The specific name is from the Greek for; a tree, and; like.
Plant (gametophyte).-Primary stem creeping, secondary simple, erect, often sharppointed at the apex, 2 to 4 inches high; branches clustered at the summit.
Leaves. -Stemleaves broad, clasping; branch leaves nar-rower, oblong, folded lengthwise; base only slightly growing down on She stem at the hollow basal angles; apex sharply serrate; vein vanishing below the apex.
Habit of flowering.-Male and female flowers on separate plants (dioicous).
Veil (calyptra).-Thin, smooth, extending below the sporecase.
Spore-case. -Erect, cylindrical, red-brown.
Pedicel (seta).-An inch long or more, deep-red.
Lid (operculum).-Straight, acutely beaked, remaining for some time attached to the central column of the spore-case.
Teeth (peristome).-As in the genus.
Annulus.-None.
Spores.-Olive-green, small, mature in the autumn and winter.
Distribution.-Common in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa.