Genus Diphyscium
Genus DIPHYSCIUM, Mohr.The species of the Genus Diphyscium are minute stemless plants growing scattered on the ground and on rocks. The leaves are strap-shaped or lanceshaped with a vein. The cells are 2 to 3 layers deep. The leaves at the base of the spore-cases are large, saw-toothed or cut into a ragged fringe.
The spore-cases are immersed or exserted on an inconspicuous pedicel, they are oval and taper-pointed, oblique and swollen on one side, with a conical lid. The outer teeth are none, or rudimentary and the inner membrane forms a pale blunt cone of 16 twisted folds.
The name, from the Greek for; twice, and; a vesicle, refers to the double wall of the spore case, which is due to the spore-sac being widely separated from the outer wall.
There are eleven species known in all, one of them being found in North America.
Leafy Diphyscium Moss