Identification notes
H. umbratum is an indicator of consistently humid, temperate places in the more oceanic parts of Britain and Ireland: think ravines, Atlantic woodland and sheltered scree slopes. In such habitats, it is frequently a member of a suite of humidity-demanding species including the hyperoceanic Lejeuneaceae.
It has much-branched but quite slender shoots with reddish-brown stems. Although it is not common, it is theoretically a great plant for demonstrating certain morphological characters to students: its leaves are strongly plicate and coarsely toothed, they have basal cells with porose walls and the stems are covered in small, branched paraphyllia.
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