Small silk moss
Small silk moss | ||||||||||||
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Small silk moss ( Orthothecium intricatum ) |
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Systematics | ||||||||||||
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Scientific name | ||||||||||||
Orthothecium intricatum | ||||||||||||
( Hartm. ) Chimp. |
The small silk moss ( Orthothecium intricatum ) is a deciduous moss species from the Plagiotheciaceae family .
features
The small to medium-sized, up to 4 centimeters tall plants with ascending branches form loose to denser lawns with a somewhat confused appearance (species name intricatum: from INTRICARE confuse) and a faint brass or copper sheen. The mostly adjacent leaves are often one-sided at the tips of the branches. They are lanceolate, about 1.7 millimeters long and drawn out into a long awl tip. The leaf margins are flat and entire. A vein is missing or very short and double. Leaf cells are approximately 75 (to 100) micrometers long and 4 to 5 micrometers wide.
Sporogons are rare. The capsule is erect and ovoid, the capsule lid is conical.
Location requirements
The species grows in shady and humid places on lime or base containing substrates. Rock niches or semi-caves that are exposed to the north and filled with fine earth are often populated, often together with Gymnostomum aeruginosum . It occurs from the valleys to well over 2000 meters above sea level, but prefers in montane to subalpine altitudes.
distribution
In Germany , Austria and Switzerland , moss is widespread in the Alps and the Jura , less common in the other low mountain ranges and completely absent in the north German plain.
Worldwide there are only occurrences in the northern hemisphere: in Europe , northern Asia , here south to the Caucasus , further in North Africa, North America and Greenland .
literature
- Jan-Peter Frahm, Wolfgang Frey, J. Döring: Moosflora . 4th edition, UTB Verlag, 2004, ISBN 3-8252-1250-5 , pp. 511f
- Nebel, Philippi: The Mosses of Baden-Württemberg Volume 2 . 1st edition, Ulmer Verlag, 2005, ISBN 3-8001-3530-2 , p. 463f