Identification notes
This large and distinctive moss used to be called Ditrichum gracile, but, with the less common D. flexicaule, it has recently been split off from its smaller cousins into the genus Flexitrichum.
Above all, F. gracile is a species of dry calcareous places such as grassland, sand-dunes and drystone walls and its presence often indicates good potential for other indicators of species-rich habitats like Ctenidium molluscum, Entodon concinnus or Aloina aloides. When growing in its characteristic patches, it is dark green and very wispy looking and resembles green fur.
Dicranum scoparium and D. bonjeanii sometimes grow in the same habitats as this moss, but they lack the classic Ditrichum leaf shape of a broad base, abruptly narrowing to a long fine point consisting mainly of nerve.
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