Yellowish silk moss
| Yellowish silk moss | ||||||||||||
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Yellowish silk moss ( Homalothecium lutescens ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Homalothecium lutescens | ||||||||||||
| ( Hedw. ) Robins |
The yellowish silk moss ( Homalothecium lutescens ), also called real gold moss , is a deciduous moss species from the Brachytheciaceae family . As an epiphyte , it is sensitive to air pollutants. In areas with high levels of air pollution, it is likely to have disappeared due to lime leaching from acid rain .
features
The strong, up to 15 cm long plants are colored yellow-green or fresh green and branched irregularly and loosely. The twigs of the moss shine when dry. The stems adhere to their base with a few rhizoids on the substrate . The closely spaced leaves are triangular-lanceolate in shape, strongly longitudinally folds (usually 4 distinct longitudinal folds, which can already be seen with a magnifying glass) and irregularly finely serrated on the edge. The leaf vein usually reaches three quarters of the leaf. The long linear prosenchymatous lamina cells are about 45 to 95 µm long and 4 to 7 µm wide. The rectangular elongated cells at the base of the leaf are spotted and thick-walled. There are only a few leaf cells. These are sub-square and slightly inflated. Spore ripening occurs relatively rarely in spring. The red-brown, straight, warty-rough seta has a light brown to brown colored spore capsule , which is oval to short cylindrical in shape and is horizontal or slightly inclined. The capsule hood is cap-shaped, the conical lid is short beaked. There is a risk of confusion with Brachythecium salebrosum , which forms significantly shorter, ovate, lanceolate leaves that are not so strongly longitudinally folded.
Location and distribution
The yellowish silk moss prefers dry, sunny and calcareous soils and can also be found on rock in open limestone and lava rubble heaps and on bark. Semi-arid grasslands with a certain amount of lime in the soil are therefore primary locations. There the moss can develop large pure stands. It rarely occurs epiphytically on trees. Typical accompanying mosses are Brachythecium salebrosum , Hypnum lacunosum , Rhytidium rugosum or Thuidium abietinum .
The moss is spread over almost all of Europe. It can also be found in parts of North Africa and North America . In Germany, the stocks are in decline.
literature
- Wolfgang Frey , Jan-Peter Frahm , Eberhard Fischer, Wolfram Lobin : The moss and fern plants of Europe (= small cryptogam flora. Vol. 4). Gustav Fischer, Stuttgart et al. 1995, ISBN 3-437-30756-8 .
- 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 .
- Volkmar Wirth , Ruprecht Düll : Color Atlas of Lichen and Moss. Ulmer, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-8001-3517-5 .
