Campylium chrysophyllum
“bristle star moss”
![Campylium chrysophyllum photo by Bob Klips](https://ohiomosslichen.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Campylium-chrysophyllum-9-750x499.jpg)
Campylium chrysophyllum along Hogback Road in Delaware County, Ohio. May 5, 2011.
![Campylium chrysophyllum at Slate Run Metro Park Pickaway County, Ohio. August 13, 2014.](https://ohiomosslichen.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Campylium-chrysophyllum1-750x499.jpg)
Campylium chrysophyllum at Slate Run Metro Park Pickaway County, Ohio. August 13, 2014.
![Campylium chrysophyllum phop by Bob Klips](https://ohiomosslichen.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Campylium-chrysophyllum-4-750x499.jpg)
Campylium chrysophyllum at Cantwell Cliffs State Nature Preserve in Hocking County, Ohio. April 30, 2014.
![Campylium chrysophyllum photo by Bob Klips](https://ohiomosslichen.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Campylium-chrysophyllum-21-750x499.jpg)
Campylium chrysophyllum and Hypnum curvifolium
at Slate Run Metro Park in Pickaway County, Ohio. August 13, 2014. .
![Campylium chrysophyllum photo by Bob Klips](https://ohiomosslichen.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Campylium-chrysophyllum-5-750x499.jpg)
Leaf of Campylium chrysophyllum from Hogback Road
in Delaware County, Ohio. May 5, 2011.
How to recognize Campylium chrysophyllum: This is a yellowish-green patchy mat forming moss. Looking at this plant with a hand-lens the tips of the leaves that project away from the stem and branches are very obvious; this is a clue that the moss might be a Campylium. The wide-spreading leaves are long pointed with an ovate base and a single costa that only reaches half way up or more on the 2-3 mm leaf. The leaf tip is usually channeled with the sides curled in slightly. Under the microscope the small opaque squarish to short-oblong alar cells can be seen at the edge of the base of the leaf in 4-6 rows at the edge if the leaf. These cells and the 1/2-2/3 of leaf length single costa helps to distinguish it from Campylium stellatum, which usually has a short double costa or sometimes a 1/4 leaf length costa.
Where to find Campylium chrysophyllum: This moss forms patches on soil or rocks and sometimes on tree bases and logs, in wet or dry calcium enriched environments. It does not persist in shaded places.