Specimen #16: Tassel Moss

Herzogiella striatella

Figure 1. Herzogiella striatella

Figure 2. Herzogiella striatella leaves

Figure 3. Herzogiella striatella. Note branching pattern and angles of leaves

Figure 4. Herzogiella striatella leaves

Figure 5. Herzogiella striatella sporophyte

Phylum: Byophyta
Family: Hypnaceae
Species: Herzogiella striatella
Common Name: Tassel Moss
Collection date: 9/8/2015
Collector: Caroline Kaylor Georskey
Habitat: Found on deadwood at the James. H Barrow Field Station
Description: This specimen is a pleurocarpous moss with rounded ovate leaves that lack a midrib (fig. 2). The general shape and arrangements of the leaves when looked at with the naked eye is reminiscent of a pine or 'Christmas' tree (fig. 4 & 5). When wet, the leaves spread widely from the stem (fig. 1 & 2).
Key used: McKnight, K. B. et al (2013). Princeton field guides: Common mosses of the northeast and Appalachians. Princeton, NJ; Princeton University Press.

Pleurocarps with ovate leaves without midrib, p.  369
1. Branches flattened; leaves appear to come off on either side of stem, more or less in one plane...
2. Leaves wide-spreading 60-90 degrees from stem, not crowded, not or loosely overlapping; stem mostly visible between leaves...
5. Stems lacking tiny branchlets at base of leaves...
7. Plants rather weakly flattened with a fuzzy, airy appearance; leaves abruptly  tapered to a long, narrow tip...
8. Leaves spreading in various directions with straight tips; leaf bases running down stem...

Herzogiella striatella

For more information on Herzogiella striatella please review the following links:
http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=HEST5
http://www.bbsfieldguide.org.uk/sites/default/files/pdfs/mosses/Herzogiella_striatella.pdf
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=50&taxon_id=250062259