Status: Native
Synonyms:
Phyllogonium norvegicum Bridel
Bryoxiphium norvegicum is an unusual moss in many ways. The stems are not translucent, and can mimic a vascular plant stem. There are sparse rhizoids present only at the stem base, such that the stems in a mat do not adhere to each other. Each stem base is tightly adherent to the rocky substrate and when a portion is removed, the individual stems do not form a clump. When attached to the substrate, the mat is composed of parallel stems, but when removed they become disordered and resemble grass clippings. The leaves are distichous, that is they are like the genus Fissidens in that the leaves are two-ranked, coming off opposite sides of the stem in two rows. The stems are not translucent because the leaves are so nested within each other in a row. The leaves are folded along the costa (conduplicate), and there can be a lamina 2-6 cells high projecting away from the costa 90° from the plane of the main leaf lamina, in this way also like Fissidens. The margin is entire or nearly so. The cells of the main lamina appear to have a thicker cell wall on the abaxial side of the leaf in cross section. The cells of the lamina are irregular in shape but more elongate near the margin. The costa itself is made up almost entirely of stereid (thick walled) cells. The length of the hairpoint is variable, but can be much longer toward the end of a stem and can be 3 times the length of the lamina. Leaves with the longest hairpoints are apparently perichaetial. Sporophytes are almost never found in North America. Bryoxiphium norvegicum is found in caves and clefts on north facing rocks and cliffs that are humid and moist but not saturated with water.
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Bryoxiphium norvegicum, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Sandoval Cty., Santa Fe National Forest, 20 miles E of Cuba on Hwy 126, N facing slope in hollow in rock, May 4, 2022
Bryoxiphium norvegicum, habit, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Sandoval Cty., Santa Fe National Forest, 20 miles E of Cuba on Hwy 126, N facing slope in hollow in rock, May 4, 2022
Bryoxiphium norvegicum, habit, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Sandoval Cty., Santa Fe National Forest, 20 miles E of Cuba on Hwy 126, N facing slope in hollow in rock, May 4, 2022
Bryoxiphium norvegicum, photomicrograph of stems, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Sandoval Cty., Santa Fe National Forest, 20 miles E of Cuba on Hwy 126, N facing slope in hollow in rock, May 4, 2022
Bryoxiphium norvegicum, dark field photomicrograph of stem, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Sandoval Cty., Santa Fe National Forest, 20 miles E of Cuba on Hwy 126, N facing slope in hollow in rock, May 4, 2022
Bryoxiphium norvegicum, photomicrograph of distichous stem twisted in the middle of the photo, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Sandoval Cty., Santa Fe National Forest, 20 miles E of Cuba on Hwy 126, N facing slope in hollow in rock, May 4, 2022
Bryoxiphium norvegicum, photomicrograph of distichous stem, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Sandoval Cty., Santa Fe National Forest, 20 miles E of Cuba on Hwy 126, N facing slope in hollow in rock, May 4, 2022
Bryoxiphium norvegicum, photomicrograph of leaf, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Sandoval Cty., Santa Fe National Forest, 20 miles E of Cuba on Hwy 126, N facing slope in hollow in rock, May 4, 2022
Bryoxiphium norvegicum, photomicrograph of leaf, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Sandoval Cty., Santa Fe National Forest, 20 miles E of Cuba on Hwy 126, N facing slope in hollow in rock, May 4, 2022
Bryoxiphium norvegicum, photomicrograph of leaf, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Sandoval Cty., Santa Fe National Forest, 20 miles E of Cuba on Hwy 126, N facing slope in hollow in rock, May 4, 2022
Bryoxiphium norvegicum, dark field photomicrograph of leaf with long hairpoint, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Sandoval Cty., Santa Fe National Forest, 20 miles E of Cuba on Hwy 126, N facing slope in hollow in rock, May 4, 2022
Bryoxiphium norvegicum, photomicrograph of portion of leaf showing lamina protruding back from the costa, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Sandoval Cty., Santa Fe National Forest, 20 miles E of Cuba on Hwy 126, N facing slope in hollow in rock, May 4, 2022
Bryoxiphium norvegicum, photomicrograph of portion of leaf showing "extra" lamina protruding back from the costa (to the left in the picture), photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Sandoval Cty., Santa Fe National Forest, 20 miles E of Cuba on Hwy 126, N facing slope in hollow in rock, May 4, 2022
Bryoxiphium norvegicum, photomicrograph of cross section of stem, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Sandoval Cty., Santa Fe National Forest, 20 miles E of Cuba on Hwy 126, N facing slope in hollow in rock, May 4, 2022
Bryoxiphium norvegicum, photomicrograph of cross section of stem and distichous leaves, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Sandoval Cty., Santa Fe National Forest, 20 miles E of Cuba on Hwy 126, N facing slope in hollow in rock, May 4, 2022
Bryoxiphium norvegicum, photomicrograph of leaf cross section, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Sandoval Cty., Santa Fe National Forest, 20 miles E of Cuba on Hwy 126, N facing slope in hollow in rock, May 4, 2022
Bryoxiphium norvegicum, photomicrograph of leaf cross section, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Sandoval Cty., Santa Fe National Forest, 20 miles E of Cuba on Hwy 126, N facing slope in hollow in rock, May 4, 2022
Bryoxiphium norvegicum, photomicrograph of leaf cross section emphasizing the extra lamina to the upper right, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Sandoval Cty., Santa Fe National Forest, 20 miles E of Cuba on Hwy 126, N facing slope in hollow in rock, May 4, 2022
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