Status: Native
Synonyms:
Orthodicranum rhabdocarpum (Sull.) Holz.
Dicranum rhabdocarpum is a distinctive moss that is easy to recognize. It has very long and thin leaves that roll into a tube shape.
They are 8-10 times as long as wide, up to 5mm in length. They have a rather thin costa for most of their length. The upper leaf margins are commonly coarsely toothed.
The costa has a toothed ridge near the apex of the leaf and it has two stereid bands at least near the base. The base of the leaf has inflated, orange colored alar cells that are one-stratose.
The stems are covered with a dense orange tomentum below, turning whitish towards the top of the stem. The peristomal teeth are split, each looking like a snake's forked tongue.
The teeth are horizontally striate. Dicranum rhabdocarpum lives on the forest floor on woodfall and soil in dense green to yellow green mats.
Dicranum rhabdocarpum is dioecious, meaning that male (antheridia bearing) and female (archegonia bearing) structures are found on separate plants.
Please click on an image for a larger file.
Dicranum rhabdocarpum, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, McMillan Campground trail, September 6, 2018
Dicranum rhabdocarpum, photo Russ Kleinman, Pinos Altos Range, Signal Peak, May 8, 2010
Dicranum rhabdocarpum, dense tomentum on upright stems, photo Russ Kleinman, Pinos Altos Range, Signal Peak, May 8, 2010
Dicranum rhabdocarpum, 5X macro of sporophyte, photo Russ Kleinman, Pinos Altos Range, Signal Peak, May 8, 2010
Dicranum rhabdocarpum, 40X photomicrograph of leaf base, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Signal Peak, May 8, 2010
Dicranum rhabdocarpum, 100X photomicrograph of rolled leaf tip with both serrate leaf edges coming together to the right, and the serrate costal ridge to the left, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Signal Peak, May 8, 2010
Dicranum rhabdocarpum, 100X photomicrograph of leaf base with inflated orange colored cells, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Signal Peak, May 8, 2010
Dicranum rhabdocarpum, 100X photomicrograph of forked peristomal teeth, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Signal Peak, May 8, 2010
Dicranum rhabdocarpum, 400X photomicrograph of cross section of costa near leaf base showing two stereid bands, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Signal Peak, April 24, 2013
Dicranum rhabdocarpum, 400X photomicrograph of cross section of stem with central strand, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Signal Peak, April 24, 2013
Dicranum rhabdocarpum, 200X photomicrograph of cross section of leaf near mid leaf, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Signal Peak, April 24, 2013
Dicranum rhabdocarpum, 100X photomicrograph of cross section of leaf near leaf base, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Signal Peak, April 24, 2013
Dicranum rhabdocarpum, growth habit on forest floor, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, McMillan Campground trail, June 18, 2014
Dicranum rhabdocarpum, photomicrograph of antheridia and paraphyses on a male plant, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, near Sheep Corral Road, July 8, 2018
Dicranum rhabdocarpum, photomicrograph of alar cells, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, McMillan Campground trail, December 10, 2022
Dicranum rhabdocarpum, photomicrograph of unistratose orange alar cells (costa to the right), photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, McMillan Campground trail, December 10, 2022
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