Campylium chrysophyllum
“bristle star moss”
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.
Campylium chrysophyllum at Cantwell Cliffs State Nature Preserve in Hocking County, Ohio. April 30, 2014.
Campylium chrysophyllum and Hypnum curvifolium
at Slate Run Metro Park in Pickaway County, Ohio. August 13, 2014. .
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.
