Status: Native
Synonyms:
Barbula brachyphylla Sullivant
Barbula olivacea (Mitten) Bescherelle
Didymodon reedii H. Robinson
Didymodon vinealis var. brachyphyllus (Sullivant) R. H. Zander
Didymodon brachyphyllus resembles a miniature D. vinealis in many ways, and indeed it has been considered a variety of that species in the past by some. The leaves are ovate-lanceolate like those of D. vinealis, but they are much smaller. The leaves of D. brachyphyllus are usually well under a millimeter long. They are distally channeled like D. vinealis and the margins are recurved. The reaction of the laminal cell walls in KOH is red. D. brachyphyllus was found in the Gila in a canyon with perennial water growing on rock near the creek.
Many thanks to John Brinda for helping to identify this moss for us!
Please click on an image for a larger file.
Didymodon brachyphyllus, photo Russ Kleinman, John Brinda & Karen Blisard, Black Range, Railroad Canyon, April 3, 2022
Didymodon brachyphyllus, photomicrograph of leaf, photo Russ Kleinman, John Brinda & Karen Blisard, Black Range, Railroad Canyon, April 3, 2022
Didymodon brachyphyllus, photomicrograph of leaf, photo Russ Kleinman, John Brinda & Karen Blisard, Black Range, Railroad Canyon, April 3, 2022
Didymodon brachyphyllus, photomicrograph of leaf, photo Russ Kleinman, John Brinda & Karen Blisard, Black Range, Railroad Canyon, April 3, 2022
Didymodon brachyphyllus, photomicrograph of red reaction to KOH, photo Russ Kleinman, John Brinda & Karen Blisard, Black Range, Railroad Canyon, April 3, 2022
Didymodon brachyphyllus, photomicrograph of colored basal cell of axillary hair, photo Russ Kleinman, John Brinda & Karen Blisard, Black Range, Railroad Canyon, April 3, 2022
Didymodon brachyphyllus, photomicrograph of leaf with channel on distal cross section, photo Russ Kleinman, John Brinda & Karen Blisard, Black Range, Railroad Canyon, April 3, 2022
Didymodon brachyphyllus, photomicrograph of more proximal leaf cross section, photo Russ Kleinman, John Brinda & Karen Blisard, Black Range, Railroad Canyon, April 3, 2022
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