Pointed Spear-moss - Calliergonella cuspidata

Description

One of our commonest and most recognizable mosses. It is medium sized and grows mixed with other bryophytes, or it forms green, yellow-green or occasionally orange-brown patches. Shoots are commonly 3 to 8 cm long, but sometimes more, and are often red towards the base. The main stem is usually erect and has side branches that are more or less pinnately arranged, the whole shoot having a flattened appearance. The most distinctive field character is the shape of the shoot and branch tips: the leaves are closely rolled-up to form a smooth needle-like or spear-like point. Stem leaves are usually 2 to 2.5 mm long, narrowly egg-shaped, never curved, bluntly rounded at the tip, and with a short, double nerve. They have a strongly differentiated, colourless patch of cells in the basal corners. Branch leaves are smaller, but otherwise similar to the stem leaves.

Identification difficulty
Habitat

C. cuspidata is common in moist, base-rich habitats, such as marshes, mires and flushes, in grassland, and among rocks. On some soils, for example clay, it frequently occurs in lawns. It also occurs in relatively dry places in calcareous habitats, such as chalk and limestone grassland.

When to see it

All year round.

UK Status

Widespread and frequent throughout Britain

VC55 Status

Common in Leicestershire and Rutland.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2020+ | 2015-2019 | pre-2015

UK Map

Species profile

Common names
Pointed Spear-moss
Species group:
Mosses & Liverworts
Kingdom:
Plantae
Order:
Hypnales
Family:
Pylaisiaceae
Records on NatureSpot:
63
First record:
10/11/1991 (Dennis Ballard)
Last record:
07/08/2023 (Hamzaoui, Uta)

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% of records within its species group

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