Status: Native
Synonyms:
Phascum triquetrum Spruce
Acaulon triquetrum is a minute moss living on dry sand. The stem is only about 1mm long. The plants are bulb-shaped. The outer leaves are broadly ovate to rounded, while the inner leaves are up to twice as long as the outer ones and have a more pronounced
mucro. Papillae are absent. The capsule is spherical, entirely enclosed within the inner leaves and nearly sessile, and has no operculum. The KOH reaction is red.
Many thanks to the New York Botanical Garden and Laura Briscoe for loaning us this specimen (NYBG barcode 00586186) for photography!
Please click on an image for a larger file.
Acaulon triquetrum, photomicrograph of dry habit, collection and ID by D.H. Norris, Missouri, Howard County, Fayette, 100 yds. E of Central Methodist College football field on clay, March 28, 1963; photos by Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, September 27, 2023
Acaulon triquetrum, photomicrograph of moistened plant (stereoscope), collection and ID by D.H. Norris, Missouri, Howard County, Fayette, 100 yds. E of Central Methodist College football field on clay, March 28, 1963; photos by Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, September 27, 2023
Acaulon triquetrum, photomicrograph of moistened plant (compound scope), collection and ID by D.H. Norris, Missouri, Howard County, Fayette, 100 yds. E of Central Methodist College football field on clay, March 28, 1963; photos by Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, September 27, 2023
Acaulon triquetrum, photomicrograph of moistened plant with outer leaves removed so that sporophyte is more easily visible surrounded by inner leaf, collection and ID by D.H. Norris, Missouri, Howard County, Fayette, 100 yds. E of Central Methodist College football field on clay, March 28, 1963; photos by Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, September 27, 2023
Acaulon triquetrum, photomicrograph of capsule with contained spores, collection and ID by D.H. Norris, Missouri, Howard County, Fayette, 100 yds. E of Central Methodist College football field on clay, March 28, 1963; photos by Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, September 27, 2023
Acaulon triquetrum, photomicrograph of outer leaf, collection and ID by D.H. Norris, Missouri, Howard County, Fayette, 100 yds. E of Central Methodist College football field on clay, March 28, 1963; photos by Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, September 27, 2023
Acaulon triquetrum, photomicrograph of outer leaf, collection and ID by D.H. Norris, Missouri, Howard County, Fayette, 100 yds. E of Central Methodist College football field on clay, March 28, 1963; photos by Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, September 27, 2023
Acaulon triquetrum, photomicrograph of inner leaf, collection and ID by D.H. Norris, Missouri, Howard County, Fayette, 100 yds. E of Central Methodist College football field on clay, March 28, 1963; photos by Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, September 27, 2023
Acaulon triquetrum, photomicrograph of leaf apex, collection and ID by D.H. Norris, Missouri, Howard County, Fayette, 100 yds. E of Central Methodist College football field on clay, March 28, 1963; photos by Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, September 27, 2023
Acaulon triquetrum, photomicrograph of cells at midleaf, collection and ID by D.H. Norris, Missouri, Howard County, Fayette, 100 yds. E of Central Methodist College football field on clay, March 28, 1963; photos by Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, September 27, 2023
Acaulon triquetrum, photomicrograph of cells at midleaf in KOH, collection and ID by D.H. Norris, Missouri, Howard County, Fayette, 100 yds. E of Central Methodist College football field on clay, March 28, 1963; photos by Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, September 27, 2023
Acaulon triquetrum, photomicrograph of cross section of leaf, collection and ID by D.H. Norris, Missouri, Howard County, Fayette, 100 yds. E of Central Methodist College football field on clay, March 28, 1963; photos by Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, September 27, 2023
Acaulon triquetrum, photomicrograph of cross section of leaf, collection and ID by D.H. Norris, Missouri, Howard County, Fayette, 100 yds. E of Central Methodist College football field on clay, March 28, 1963; photos by Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, September 27, 2023
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