Squirrel-tailed white-toothed moss
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Squirrel- tailed white-toothed moss ( Leucodon sciuroides ) |
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| Schwägr. |
The epiphytic squirrel- tailed white-toothed moss ( Leucodon sciuroides ) mainly inhabits trees. Due to increasing air pollution, the moss is currently on the decline. In the plain it has almost disappeared (classified as critically endangered on the Red List in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania) and threatened at higher altitudes. There it is increasingly switching to secondary locations such as bare rock or rock.
Identifying features
The squirrel-tailed white-toothed moss grows in dark green, at the base brownish-red blankets from up to 2 cm long, creeping primary shoots that form arching ascending secondary shoots. The leaves are dry and unfold quickly after being supplied with moisture. They are longitudinally folded (this is what distinguishes them from other genera of the family), with entire margins, pointed and have no central rib. The smooth lamina cells are elongated rhombic to slightly prosenchymatic in the middle of the leaf. On the leaf margins, roundish oval to sub-square cells form a clearly broad border. Sprogons are rarely trained in Central Europe due to air pollution. The spore capsule is upright, cylindrical in shape and appears to be drawn in when dry. The seta is reddish in color. In dry places the moss can also develop axillary sprouts or leaflets.
Occurrence
The squirrel-tailed white-toothed moss grows epiphytically in blankets or in herds firmly attached to the substrate. It colonizes light-rich, sunny, mostly dry, alkaline-rich, often also lime-rich, rarely also weakly acidic locations on hardwood bark (mostly Acer , Fraxinus excelsior ...), less often on limestone rocks, alkaline-rich rocks or walls. In addition to Europe, the moss is also found in parts of North Africa, Asia and the Azores.
literature
- Volkmar Wirth , Ruprecht Düll : Color Atlas of Lichen and Moss. Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2000, ISBN 3-8001-3517-5 .
- Martin Nebel, Georg Philippi (ed.): The mosses of Baden-Württemberg. Volume 2: Special part, (Bryophytina II, Schistostegales to Hypnobryales). Ulmer, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3530-2 .
- Jan-Peter Frahm , Wolfgang Frey : Moosflora (= UTB . 1250). 4th, revised and expanded edition. Ulmer, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8252-1250-5 .
