Status: Native
Synonyms:
None
Philonotis fontana is a common moss of wet areas. It has an acute tip and a serrate edge, but the most distinguishing characteristic of this moss is a round papilla on the stem end of the leaf cells when viewed with a microscope. The capsules are also a useful identifying character. They are short and globose. Under the right conditions, Philonotis fontana has "splash cups" at the ends of some of the stems. Splash cups are aggregates of large numbers of antheridia. When rain drops or drops from a creek hit the splash cups, the sperm are scattered. The stems have a strong central strand that sometimes appears to be almost linear when squashed in a cross section. The prorate cells of the lamina appear as papillae in cross section.
Please click on an image for a larger file.
Philonotis fontana, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Mogollon Mtns., Redstone trailhead, June 10, 2010
Philonotis fontana, 5x macro, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Sheep Corral Road, July 5, 2015
Philonotis fontana, closeup, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Mogollon Mtns., Redstone trailhead, June 10, 2010
Philonotis fontana, 3x macro of capsule, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Mogollon Mtns., Redstone trailhead, June 10, 2010
Philonotis fontana, 100x photomicrograph of leaf, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Mogollon Mtns., Redstone trailhead, June 10, 2010
Philonotis fontana, 200x photomicrograph of leaf showing papillose cells, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Mogollon Mtns., Redstone trailhead, June 10, 2010
Philonotis fontana, 4x macro of splash cups, photo Russ Kleinman, Santa Fe Ski Basin, August 6, 2011
Philonotis fontana, 200x photomicrograph of leaf cross section, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Hanover Canyon, June 24, 2014
Philonotis fontana, 400x photomicrograph of stem cross section, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Hanover Canyon, June 24, 2014
Philonotis fontana, 600x video focusing onto leaf demonstrating prorate cell ends (if you grab the slider on your video player after the video fully loads and move it around, it appears as if you are virtually focusing up and down on the material), video Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Sheep Corral Road, June 15, 2016
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