Moss Specimen

Date2007

Dimensions1 x 4 x 5 cm (3/8 x 1 9/16 x 1 15/16 in.)

Object numberHF.2012.49.39

DescriptionA small sample of dried Eurhynchium pulchellum [Hedw.] Jenn. moss with short, feather-like branches. The sample is light-green in colour with some yellow-brown areas. Bottom edge has some fragments of dried sediment, possibly tree bark? Longer copper stems extend beyond the branches with a slightly rectangular shaped tip.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Bryophyta
Class: Bryopsida
Order: Hypnales
Family: Brachytheciaceae
Genus: Eurhynchium Schimp.
Species: Eurhynchium pulchellum [Hedw.] Jenn

Narrative

Collected on October 23, 2007, by Rosemary Curley from the Devil's Punchbowl, North Granville, Queen's County, PEI (46°24'21.05"N, 63°29'8.18"W. Datum: NAD83). Collected from a steeply sloped depression with stream banks coated in mosses. The substrate was the base of a red maple.

Eurhynchium pulchellum [Hedw.] Jenn., grows in crowded mats sometimes reaching 13 cm in length. Stems have crowded, triangular shaped, upright leaves positioned at 45° angles and 0.5-2 mm in width. Leaf edges are flat or curl back and downward. Branches have leaves smaller and more crowded than the stem leaves. It often grows intermixed with other bryophytes. Eurhynchium pulchellum is perennial and dioicous. The species name refers to the neat leaf arrangements on the shoot. It grows in mineral soil in shaded areas as well as on rock surfaces, on rotting wood and tree bases.

Geographically Eurhynchium pulchellum can be found throughout North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Locally, it is common within all three Maritime provinces.

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