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         Introduction to
Moss ID Links ID1 (Intro to Plants) ID2 (Bryophytes) ID3 (Life Cycle) ID4 (Divsions) ID5 (Books & Gear) ID6 (Leaves) ID7 (Cells) ID8 (Sporophytes) ID9 (peculiar Sphagnum) ID10 (peculiar Atrichum) ID11 (peculiar Fissidens) ID12. (Key Overview) ID13 (Platygyrium start) ID14 (Platygyrium finish) ID15 (Funaria start) ID16 (Funaria finish) ID17 (Orthotrichum start) ID18 (Orthotrichum finish) ID19 (OH Atlas & FQAI) ID20. (Plag. cusp.) ID21 (Ambl. vari., Anom. Atte.) ID22 (Plat. repe., Ento. sedu.) ID23 (Cera. purp., Anom. rost.) ID24 (Clim. amer., Thui. deli.) ID25 (Atri angu.) |
INTRO TO MOSS ID (p. 21)
(10 most common OH mosses) Amblystegium varium and Anomodon attenuatus  Amblystegium varium is a small, fairly indistinctive pleurocarp that is common on the ground, on logs, and rocks in moist shaded places.  Amblystegium varium on rock in sream at Kraus Woods Preserve, Delaware County, OH.
 Amblystegium varium is little-branched, with erect ovate leaves.
Amblystegium through the microscope is
recognized by having short leaf cells. This particular species, as the
name implies, is quite variable. Amblustegium varium is distinshed by having a fairly strong costa that extends nearly to the leaf apex.
  Amblystegium varium leaf (left) and cells in upper portion of leaf (right).
 If you think of a tree resembles a person's leg, then the moss Anomodon attenuatus is a like a thick sock surrounding the ankle and extending partly up the calf.  Left-hand image: Anomodon attenuatus in its typical presentation on bark at the base of a tree. Right hand image: Anomodon attenutaus approx. 5 ft. up a small tree, alongside Leskea gracilescens. Mosses that occur on habitats such
rocks and bark, where moisture conditions vary extremely, often have a
strikingly different appearance when wet as compared with
when dry.
 Anomodon attenuatus with sporophytes just after a rainstorm in early December.  Anomodon atternuatus dry.
  Anomodon attenuttus leaf (left) and cells near leaf middle showing papillosity (right).
Next: Platygyrium and Entodon
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