Common Mosses of the Northeast and Appalachians

Common Mosses of the Northeast and Appalachians

Karl B Mcknight
Joseph R. Rohrer
Kirsten Mcknight Ward
Warren J. Perdrizet
Series: Princeton Field Guides
Copyright Date: 2013
Published by: Princeton University Press
Pages: 392
https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1r2ffj
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  • Book Info
    Common Mosses of the Northeast and Appalachians
    Book Description:

    This is the first book to help general readers recognize 200 common mosses of the Northeast and the Appalachian Mountains. With just this field guide, a hand lens, and a spray bottle--no microscopes necessary--readers will be able to identify and name many of the common species of mosses growing in the region's backyards, parks, forests, wetlands, and mountains. At the heart of this guide is an innovative, color-tabbed system that helps readers pick out small groups of similar species. Illustrated identification keys, colorful habitat and leaf photos, more than 600 detailed line drawings, and written descriptions help differentiate the species. This accessible book allows all nature enthusiasts to make accurate identifications and gain access to the enchanting world of mosses.

    200 species includedMore than 600 detailed line drawingsMore than 400 color photographsInnovative color-tabbed system for species identificationIllustrated species identification keysHelpful tips for moss collecting

    eISBN: 978-1-4008-4588-0
    Subjects: Botany & Plant Sciences, Biological Sciences

Table of Contents

  1. Front Matter
    (pp. 1-6)
  2. Table of Contents
    (pp. 7-7)
  3. How to Use this Book
    (pp. 9-9)
  4. Key Features
    (pp. 10-15)
  5. Key Features Path to the Keys
    (pp. 16-17)
  6. How to Look at a Moss
    (pp. 18-20)
  7. Collecting Mosses
    (pp. 20-21)
  8. What Are Mosses?
    (pp. 22-24)
  9. Basic Structure of Mosses
    (pp. 25-25)
  10. Life History of Mosses
    (pp. 26-27)
  11. What Good Are Mosses?
    (pp. 28-32)
  12. Species Treatments
    • Acrocarps
      (pp. 33-172)

      Appearance: Dull yellow green to blue green, pillowy cushions. Stems are upright, 2–6 cm high, sparsely forked, densely clothed with hairlike curly leaves, and topped by apple-round capsules on slender stalks. When dry, leaves are loosely and irregularly curled and twisted; wet, the leaves straighten and are held at 60 degrees from stems. Stem bases are often matted with brown fuzz.

      Leaves: Hairlike, 4–6 mm long, from a widened clasping base. Edges are curled under, slimming the leaves to a hairlike tip. Midrib extends to apex. Fine teeth along edge of top half of leaf.

      Capsules: When young,...

    • Pleurocarps
      (pp. 173-316)

      Appearance: Irregularly to pinnately branching, upward arching or trailing shoots of shiny red, purple red, or black brown growing in water. Branches look loosely braided due to their densely crowded leaves with long curled tips from erect bases. Dry leaves fold down along midrib, still curled, but looking scraggly rather than juicy.

      Leaves: Sickle shape, 3-4 mm long, narrow tips curling into complete loops, concave. Midrib reaches to above midleaf. Surface is unpleated; edges are smooth.

      Capsules: Curved-cylindrical, 2-3 mm long with a conical lid. Stalk 3-5 cm, red.

      Habitat: Wetlands, moderately calcium-enriched such as fens, often submerged.

      Drepanocladus aduncus,...

    • Leafless
      (pp. 317-320)

      Appearance: Leafless moss; its stalked capsules, like lentils with an upturned nose, appear to arise directly from a dark green to blackish crust on the ground. New, bright green capsules form in early winter, making this the easiest season to search for this moss, which looks more like a fungus than a plant.

      Leaves: Only a few tiny leaves at base of capsule stalk. Gametophyte is almost entirely protonema, a mat of brown and green algal-like threads.

      Capsules: Flattened, asymmetric egg-shape, like a satellite dish, 3–6 mm long, with a rounded beak at the top. Inclined at a 45–...

    • Peat Mosses
      (pp. 321-339)

      Appearance: Robust plants with a large apical head resembling a pom-pom or a dry head of clover. Plants are dull green to brownish green, growing scattered in loose tufts (rather than in mats or carpets typical of other peat mosses). With their stiff, almost woody, upright stems and oversized shaggy heads, the plants suggest British royal guards with their bearskin hats.S. wulfianumis one of the easiest peat mosses to recognize because it is the onlySphagnumwith 6 or more branches per cluster.

      Leaves: Branch leaves are 1 mm long, lance-shaped with long, narrow tips that are reflexed...

  13. How to Use the Identification Keys
    (pp. 340-340)
  14. Keys
    (pp. 341-379)
  15. Habitat Lists
    (pp. 380-383)
  16. Moss Publications and Resources
    (pp. 384-384)
  17. Moss Names
    (pp. 385-385)
  18. Index
    (pp. 386-391)
  19. Back Matter
    (pp. 392-392)