Plants of the Gila Wilderness

Presented in Association with the
Western New Mexico University Department of Natural Sciences

Brachythecium stereopoma (Spruce ex Mitten) Jaeger

Family: Brachytheciaceae

Status: Native

Synonyms:
Brachythecium wootonii Grout
Chamberlainia stereopoma (Spruce ex Mitt.) H. Rob.

Brachythecium stereopoma is a robust moss with a weak costa that does not reach the apex. The alar cells are not bloated but rather are relatively thick walled. The leaves are over a millimeter long and are straight and plicate. The leaves are serrulate and very cup shaped (concave.) Because they are so concave, when they are stripped from the stem to prepare a slide with a cover slip, they tend to be folded or longitudinally slit. They are rather oval shaped for the genus and have an abruptly acuminate tip. Brachythecium stereopoma lives in the forest at higher elevations.
Please click on an image for a larger file.



Brachythecium stereopoma, photo Russ Kleinman, Bill Norris & Karen Blisard, San Francisco Mtns., Johnson Canyon, June 14, 2010



Brachythecium stereopoma, 3x macro, photo Russ Kleinman, Bill Norris & Karen Blisard, San Francisco Mtns., Johnson Canyon, June 14, 2010



Brachythecium stereopoma, 40x photomicrograph of leaf, photo Russ Kleinman, Bill Norris & Karen Blisard, San Francisco Mtns., Johnson Canyon, June 14, 2010



Brachythecium stereopoma, 100x photomicrograph of leaf showing sharply acuminate tip and plicate edges with deep convex lamina with bubble inside, photo Russ Kleinman, Bill Norris & Karen Blisard, San Francisco Mtns., Johnson Canyon, June 14, 2010



Brachythecium stereopoma, 40x photomicrograph of two typical leaves, photo Russ Kleinman, Bill Norris & Karen Blisard, San Francisco Mtns., Johnson Canyon, June 14, 2010


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