Plants of the Gila Wilderness

Family: Pottiaceae

Status: Native

Synonyms:
None

Syntrichia ruralis is a striking moss when moist. The bright lime green leaves have an obvious red costa and a long hair tip. The cells of the lamina usually have four or five C-shaped papillae. Syntrichia ruralis grows on soil and rocks. It is quite widespread in our area. This moss, like many, responds very quickly to wetting when dry. The leaves quickly spread and seem to turn a bright lime green.

There is a recent Silver City collection of S. ruralis that has no hairpoint, just a short papillose and chlorophyllose awn. See below for more information on this variety.

Please click on an image for a larger file.

Syntrichia ruralis, Olympus TG-6 field photo of clump, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Burro Mtns., Blackhawk Cyn, February 21, 2021

Syntrichia ruralis, Galaxy S6 Edge field photo of wet clump, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Sheep Corral Road, July 5, 2015

Syntrichia ruralis, 3x macro of dry clump, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Pinos Altos, July 5, 2015

Syntrichia ruralis, photo Russ Kleinman, Pinos Altos Range, Pinos Altos, March 27, 2010

Syntrichia ruralis, 3x macro, photo Russ Kleinman, Pinos Altos Range, Pinos Altos, March 27, 2010

Syntrichia ruralis, moist stems, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Pinos Altos, December 26, 2015

Syntrichia ruralis, 40x photomicrograph of leaf, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Pinos Altos, March 27, 2010

Syntrichia ruralis, 100x photomicrograph of leaf apex, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Pinos Altos, December 29, 2011

Syntrichia ruralis, 40x photomicrograph of leaf, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Pinos Altos, December 29, 2011

Syntrichia ruralis, 200x photomicrograph of leaf cross section near midleaf, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Pinos Altos, March 15, 2011

Syntrichia ruralis, 400x photomicrograph of leaf, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Pinos Altos, December 30, 2011

Syntrichia ruralis, realtime video (not time lapse) of dry stems being wetted (2x macro), video Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Pinos Altos Range, Pinos Altos, July 19, 2014

On November 15, 2022, a specimen was collected from Piñon Juniper woodland on the south side of Bear Mountain near Silver City. This specimen looked like Syntrichia ruralis, except that it was missing the long hyaline hairpoint. On microscopic examination, the leaves have a nubbin of a short chlorophyllose and papillose awn. Pictures were sent to Kelly Allred, who found that a similar moss was known from mainland Europe and in the UK, and aptly named Syntrichia ruralis var. epilosa. Brent Mishler also evaluated the pix, and forwarded them to John Brinda who apparently is working on the North American varieties of Syntrichia ruralis that have no long hyaline awn. At this point, following Dr. Mishler's advice, we simply refer to this collection as Syntrichia ruralis until further study can be completed. Below are the pix of the Silver City material.

Syntrichia ruralis, photomicrograph of habit, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Silver City Range, S side of Bear Mtn., junction of Bear Mtn. Road and FR858, November 15, 2022

Syntrichia ruralis, photomicrograph of leaf, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Silver City Range, S side of Bear Mtn., junction of Bear Mtn. Road and FR858, November 15, 2022

Syntrichia ruralis, photomicrograph of leaf, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Silver City Range, S side of Bear Mtn., junction of Bear Mtn. Road and FR858, November 15, 2022

Syntrichia ruralis, photomicrograph of leaf apex, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Silver City Range, S side of Bear Mtn., junction of Bear Mtn. Road and FR858, November 15, 2022

Syntrichia ruralis, photomicrograph of costa, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Silver City Range, S side of Bear Mtn., junction of Bear Mtn. Road and FR858, November 15, 2022

Syntrichia ruralis, photomicrograph of cross section of leaf, photo Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, Silver City Range, S side of Bear Mtn., junction of Bear Mtn. Road and FR858, November 15, 2022