Mosses of Central Florida 25. Campylopus surinamensis

Campylopus surinamensis Müller Hal. (Dicranaceae) is a hardy, desiccation-tolerant moss found in the dry, sandy soil of the Pine Flatwoods and dry roadsides.  Synonyms include C. donnelli and C. gracilicaulis.  From other members of its family, it is typically distinguished by the habit of producing shoots with two forms of leaves.  Along the lower parts of the shoot, the leaves are small, widely spaced and pressed against the stem. In the upper part of the shoot, leaves are longer, and crowded into a distinct tuft.  It apparently does not produce spores anywhere in North America, but reproduces asexually by means of small, hooked leaves produced in the axils of the main leaves.

As a colony of Campylopus surinamensis develops, some shoots form as short rosettes, but later shoots elevate their rosettes atop sparsely foliated stems. Photo of Essig 20090209-1 (USF)

The leaves are dominated by the massive midribs, that occupy about a third or more of the leaf width at the base, and nearly all of the leaf in the middle and upward into the prolonged tip.  Other members of the family have still massive, but narrower, midribs, occupying less than a third of the leaf width at the base.  The upper parts of the leaves are toothed along the margins. Leaf cells in the narrow blade region are squarish to irregular, becoming larger and more rectangular at the base. Leaves are somewhat curved but stiff when dry, not curled.

The leaves of Campylopus species are dominated by their massive midribs.