Genus Archidium
The species of the Genus Archidium are minute terrestrial plants having stems with branches short and erect or long and prostrate.The leaves are narrowly or broadly lance shaped; with a vein; the cells are loose and contain but little leaf-green.
The spore-cases are terminal, sessile and globular, opening irregularly and transversely for the exit of the spores, which are few, smooth and larger than those of any other moss.
There are thirty-five species in all, five of them in North America. Their structure is more simple than that of most mosses; and for this reason Bridel gave it the generic name Archidium from the Greek; a beginning.
Archidium Ohiense Moss