Identification notes
This pretty little moss is small but often grows en masse and when capsules are present, they catch the eye. As a pioneering species it prefers disturbed places where there is little competition from other plants and it is frequently a member of a community of small bryophytes with similarly short life-cycles, such as Dicranella, Pohlia and Fossombronia species.
E. attenuatus is unlikely to be confused with E. fascicularis, E. obtusus or Physcomitrium pyriforme. Its capsule shape, with its conspicuously long, tapering (attenuated) neck is highly distinctive, as are its deep cherry-red rhizoids, although they are not always easy to discern in the field.
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