English: Redshank; Purple forkmoss; Ceratodon moss; Fire moss; Purple horn toothed moss.
German: Purpurstielchen; Purpurstieliges Hornzahnmoos.
Dutch: Haarspitsmos.
Clades:
Ditrichaceae;
Dicranales,
Bryanae;
Bryophyta;
Plants.
Region: common, cosmopolitan, worldwide, tropical, North America.
Habitat: wide variety of acidic, well-drained substrates, peaty or sandy soil; in heathland, acidic grassland, on walls and roofs; fire sites; exotic places, bird perches, on rocks or fence posts, old bones, old boots; soil, rock, wood, humus, old roofs, sand, cracks of sidewalks, on exposed, compact, mineral, dry, gravelly or sandy soils, sand dunes, wide variety, urban areas, next to roadsand polluted highway, dry sand soils, mine tailings, areas denuded by wildfire, bright slopes of Antarctica.
Content: photoprotective pigments, protecting against bright Antarctic environment.
BotanyMoss; very variable; forms dense tufts, cushions or patches; yellow to mid-green through red to purplish-brown.
Stems: shoots to 3 cm.
Leaves: short and hairlike, spreading when moist; typically 1 to 2 mm long; narrowly triangular; the lower ones appressed to the stem; the upper somewhat twisted and wavy when dry, normally held away from the stem or slightly reflexed when moist; leaf margins are recurved almost from the base to the tip; nerve is stout, ends in the tip of the acutely pointed leaf, which usually has a few coarse teeth.
Capsules: abundantly, common; red-brown; inclined when mature; swollen at the base; strongly furrowed when dry; setae are distinctively purple-red; mature by late spring.
Spores: wind dispersal; sporophytes appear early in the spring.