Ptychomitrium polyphyllum

HomeLearningSpecies FinderPtychomitrium polyphyllum

Identification notes

A beautiful acrocarp of sunny boulders and wall-tops in exposed situations, this moss will often catch your eye with its abundant capsules on long setae. These have a red rim and well-developed peristome teeth. Perhaps you won’t recognize it immediately and might think you’ve found something you ought to know, as it’s pretty chunky and obvious, forming roundish tufts with curled up 4mm long leaves when dry.  Time to get out the hand lens and to look at the leaf tip.  Here you’ll see nice well-defined teeth along the upper leaf margin. Even without the capsules these teeth will distinguish this species from similar mosses like Dicranoweisia or Tortella species.

Read the Field Guide account

Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland

View distribution from the BBS Atlas 2014

Similar Species