Identification notes
The classic Tortella hyaline V-shaped basal leaf areolation is less distinct in T. nitida than in its close relatives. The hyaline basal cells can merge quite gradually and irregularly into the upper green ones and plants can then be confused with Trichostomum brachydontium, which is a similar size and also has undulate, often fragile leaves. However, T. nitida rarely grows on soil, unlike T. brachydontium, and under the microscope it can usually be recognised as a Tortella by two or more rows of thick-walled rectangular hyaline cells extending up the margins almost to mid-leaf.
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