Status: Native
Synonyms:
Tortula fragilis Taylor
Syntrichia fragilis has the usual lime green oblanceolate Syntrichia leaf shape and has a red stout costa with a short mucronate tip. As such, it resembles Tortula inermis. However, the leaf edges are fragile and eroded, especially near the apex. There can apparently be multiple meristematic regions along the leaf edge, and this can lead to interesting developmental abnormalities.
Please click on an image for a larger file.
Syntrichia fragilis (dry), photo Russ Kleinman, Kelly Allred & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Little Cherry Creek Ranch Road, August 19, 2010
Syntrichia fragilis (wet), photo Russ Kleinman, Kelly Allred & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Little Cherry Creek Ranch Road, August 19, 2010
Syntrichia fragilis, 40x photomicrograph of leaf, photo Russ Kleinman, Kelly Allred & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Little Cherry Creek Ranch Road, August 19, 2010
Syntrichia fragilis, 40x photomicrograph of leaf, photo Russ Kleinman, Kelly Allred & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Little Cherry Creek Ranch Road, August 19, 2010
Syntrichia fragilis, 40x photomicrograph of leaf with developmental abnormality common with this species-- an apparently twinned leaf (smaller side leaf has a much weaker costa), photo Russ Kleinman, Kelly Allred & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Little Cherry Creek Ranch Road, August 19, 2010
Syntrichia fragilis, 400x photomicrograph of leaf cells with papillae, photo Russ Kleinman, Kelly Allred & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Little Cherry Creek Ranch Road, August 19, 2010
Syntrichia fragilis, 600x photomicrograph of complex paracostal papillae, photo Russ Kleinman, Kirsten Romig, Ron Wittman, Kelly Allred & Karen Blisard, Santa Fe National Forest, top of Elk Mountain, August 6, 2015
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