Claw Leaved Barbula Moss
The Claw-leaved Barbula, Barbula unguiculata, Hedw.Habit and habitat. -Common and variable in soft bright or dirty-green tufts on damp black soil, along fences, on rocks, stones, etc.
Name.-The specific name unguiculata from the Latin unguis, a claw, refers to the sharp-pointed leaves.
Plant (galnetophyte).Variable, 1/4 to 1 inch high.
Leaves. -Narrowly oblong, apex obtuse with an abrupt sharp point; vein rough with tiny points and passing beyond the apex; margin rolled back from the middle downward; cells, the upper obscure, nearly square, the basal longer, small, narrow, transparent.
Leaves at the base of the spore-case (perichaetial leaves). Transparent to near the apex.
Habit of flowering.-Male and female flowers on separate plants (dioicous); male plants more slender, flower-clusters terminal and bud-like, bracts broadly egg-shaped.
Veil (calyptra).-Narrow, long-beaked.
Pedicel (seta).-Brown-red or purple, variable in length.
Spore-case.-Oblong-elliptical or sub-cylindrical, regular or incurved.
Lid (operculum).-Conical, beak long, straight, or curved.
Teeth (peristome).-Long and slender, deep-red and twisted two or three times.
Annulus.-None.
Spores.-Mature in winter or spring.