Moss ID Help Please

[Lancashire Lad]

Found these today and would appreciate any help towards ID's. (I know as just as much about mosses, as I do of lichens - i.e. nothing ).
All growing on dry stone walls, except No.4, which was abundant on many plant stems and small tree trunks.


No.1...........................No.2............... ...........No.3............................No.4

Regards
Mike.

[oxycera]

Think the first one is likely to be Bryum capillare. As a 'bryophyte neophyte' I can't comment on the rest.

[oxycera]

in no.3 the darker moss to the right of the central mass has the look of Campylopus flexuosus - but please don't take this a a positive id!

[stigofthedump]

Hi MIke.

I'm with oxycera on number 1

Number 2 has me stumped. The seta and capsule point me to Barbula/ Didymodon spp but it lacks the very twisted leaves they show when dry.

Number 3. Looks like Barbula convolluta, or related spp

Number 4. Well your guess is as good as mine! I would look to one of the Brachytheciums firstly, then to one of the Hypnum cupressiforme var's or Eurhynchium spp.

Sorry if it's not much help but if you wish to put names to your photos you could post them to me and I would gladly I.D them for you.

Are there any other WAB members willing to start a WAB moss ID club?


Vince

[Lancashire Lad]

Thanks oxycera & stigofthedump - as always, your responses are much appreciated.

Originally Posted by stigofthedump

...I'm with oxycera on number 1...

I should have looked more closely at this - now that you have named it, it does indeed look to be the same type of moss that I previously requested an ID on here Two Mosses - ID Help Please

Originally Posted by stigofthedump

...Number 2 has me stumped. The seta and capsule point me to Barbula/ Didymodon spp but it lacks the very twisted leaves they show when dry....

I may be way off the mark but when I spotted this, I thought that the reddish coloured "base layer?" might be last years growth, with the dark green new growth now coming through?

Originally Posted by stigofthedump

...Number 3. Looks like Barbula convolluta, or related spp...

This was in a fairly dark crevice, in a dry stone wall, and appeared to be different to anything else in the vicinity - I only saw one other tuft of the same sort.

Originally Posted by stigofthedump

...Number 4. Well your guess is as good as mine! I would look to one of the Brachytheciums firstly, then to one of the Hypnum cupressiforme var's or Eurhynchium spp...

This was all over the place. Do you think it might be one of the "beard lichens?"

Originally Posted by stigofthedump

...Sorry if it's not much help but if you wish to put names to your photos you could post them to me and I would gladly I.D them for you...

A very kind offer, but if I were to take you up on it, you might find yourself completely inundated .
I realise that it may often not be possible, but I'm happy enough to try to get ID's from photo's. Unless that is, I find anything really spectacular.

Regards
Mike.

[JennyS]

Quote:
Originally Posted by stigofthedump View Post
...Number 4. Well your guess is as good as mine! I would look to one of the Brachytheciums firstly, then to one of the Hypnum cupressiforme var's or Eurhynchium spp...
This was all over the place. Do you think it might be one of the "beard lichens?"

No, its not a Beard Lichen (Usnea species) - you're still in mosses with it ...

[Lancashire Lad]

Originally Posted by JennyS

No, its not a Beard Lichen (Usnea species) - you're still in mosses with it ...

- Well, I know next to nothing about these things, (but I'm hoping to learn just a little bit. ).

Regards
Mike.

[AlanS]

I'm one who voted against mosses being in the lichen forum and was going to ignore all 'alien' posts, but ..

1. yes, Bryum capillare. Very common and characteristic on walls, abundantly fruiting at the moment.

2. This is a young Polytrichum or Polytrichastrum. The capsules are still very immature, hence they are held vertically like little spears and have not swelled yet - but note the hairy calyptras, which are diagnostic.
I fancy it is Polytrichastrum formosum, but a bit difficult to count ridges on the capsules just yet (or to cut cross-sections of leaves in a photograph).

3. Looks horribly familiar but I cannot place it. I know I know it! (He says unhelpfully.)

4. This is definitely Hypnum cupressiforme (agg., maybe sensu stricto). The hooked leaves are just visible on the right-hand side.

Alan
(only looking at these as Jenny has posted some nasty crustose lichens I don't want even to think about)

[Lancashire Lad]

Thanks again Alan, much appreciated.

Originally Posted by AlanS

...I'm one who voted against mosses being in the lichen forum and was going to ignore all 'alien' posts, but ......(only looking at these as Jenny has posted some nasty crustose lichens I don't want even to think about)...

Hmm. - Being the one who posted the poll regarding where best to post moss queries, and given that the responses were biased to lichens, rather than with wildflowers/plants, I find myself in a bit of a quandary

I am one of those who have always thought mosses were generally "associated?" with lichens. And (until very recently) my only book on the subject, "Collins Guide to the Ferns, Mosses & Lichens of Britain & Northern Europe", did nothing to dispel that "association".

However, as I'm now taking slightly more than casual notice, and starting to read up and find out more about them, I have to agree, that if they have to be "lumped in" with anything, it should really be plants rather than lichens.

In the absence of a Bryophyte's sub-forum, I'll try to follow that principle from now on - I just hope that all those who may be able to help with ID's etc., will visit the wildflower forum to look.

Regards
Mike.