KEY TO THE ORDERS OF MOSSES.
| 1-Mosses with whitish or light
green leaves, sometimes tinged within red; usually growing in bogs or
wet places; stems erect, much and compactly branched at the
tip |
|
| ... Order 1 (SPHAGNALES,) The Peat
Mosses...2. |
| 1-Mosses with blackish or very
dark leaves, sometimes at highest elevations and open exposures
appearing brown; growing on rocks, stems erect, very short. (10
mm.) |
|
| ... Order 2 (ANDREAEALES,) The Rock
Mosses...3. |
| 1-Mosses with yellow-green,
green, dark green, or blackish leaves; growing in various locations as
wet or dry ground, rocks, trees, decayed wood, or in water; stems erect,
prostrate or ascending |
|
| ... Order 3 (BRYALES,) The True
Mosses...4. |
KEY TO THE FAMILIES OF
MOSSES. |
| 2-Plants as described under
order Sphagnales above; which order contains a single
family |
|
| ... Family 1
Sphagnaceae. |
| 3-Plants as described under
Andreaeales above; which order contains a single
family |
|
| ... Family 2
Andreaeaceae. |
| 4-Stems usually erect or
ascending and usually not branched. The fruit is borne at the end of a
stem or well developed branch |
|
| ... Acrocarpous
Mosses 5. |
| 4-Stems prostrate or ascending,
usually much branched. Fruiting portion always on the side of the stem
or on a very short lateral branch |
|
| ... Pleurocarpous
Mosses 18. |
Acrocarpi |
| 5-Acrocarpous mosses with
leaves coarse and wiry | ...6. |
| 5-Acrocarpous mosses with
leaves soft, not coarse and wiry | ...7. |
| 6-Leaves having lamellae on the
upper surface; teeth of peristome not jointed, 32 to 64 in
number |
|
| ... Family 5
Polytrichaceae. |
| 6-Leaves lacking lamellae on
upper surface; teeth jointed, sixteen in
number |
|
| ... Family 14
Timmiaceae. |
| 7-Mosses dark green or black in
color; growing on trees or rocks | ...8. |
| 7-Mosses green to yellow-green;
growing on soil, rocks, tree bases (seldom on trunks), fallen
logs | ...9. |
| 8-Plants usually growing on
tree trunks, or dry rocks, in loose tufts rarely with hair-pointed
leaves. Peristome double. (exceptions) |
|
| ... Family 11
Orthotrichaceae. |
| 8-Plants growing on rocks in
dense tufts or cushions on dry rocks, or in loose tufts on wet rocks.
Leaves frequently hair-pointed. Peristome
single |
|
| ... Family 8
Grimmiaceae. |
| 9-Peculiar looking plants with
reduced stem and small nerveless leaves. Grow on rotten wood at
elevation of Longmire |
|
| ... Family 3
Buxbaumiaceae. |
| 9-Normal appearing
plants | ...10. |
| 10-Peristome consisting of four
unjointed teeth |
|
| ... Family 4
Tetraphidaceae. |
| 10-Peristome of 16 to 32
pointed teeth | ...11. |
| 11-Peristome single |
...12. |
| 11-Peristome double |
...15. |
| 12-Calyptra large, glossy,
completely covering the capsule and usually persistent; capsule
erect |
|
| ... Family 10
Encalyptaceae. |
| 12-Calyptra not large and not
usually persistent | ...13. |
| 13-Leaves
papillose |
|
| ... Family 9
Tortulaceae. |
| 13-Leaves not
papillose | ...14. |
| 14-Teeth of peristome from low
basal membrane, usually divided more than half-way to
base |
|
| ... Family 6 Dicranaceae. |
| 14-Teeth divided nearly to base
into two filiform legs |
|
| ... Family 7
Ditrichaceae. |
| 15-Capsules distinctly furrowed
when dry | ...16. |
| 15-Capsules not distinctly
furrowed | ...17. |
| 16-Capsules symmetrical; mouth
one-sided |
|
| ... Family 12
Funariaceae. |
| 16-Capsules globose or ovate,
usually inclined at right angles to the
seta |
|
| ... Family 15 Bartramiaceae. |
| 16-Capsules longer than broad;
plants growing on rotten wood or in boggy
places |
|
| ... Family 13
Aulacomniaceae. |
| 17-Upper and lower leaves much
alike; leaf cells usually long and narrow; plants
small |
|
| ... Family 16
Bryaceae. |
| 17-Upper and lower leaves
different; leaf cells short end broad; plants usually
robust |
|
| ... Family 17
Mniaceae. |
PLEUROCARPI |
| 18-Plants submerged or floating
in running water; capsules inmersed or emergent but never long
exserted |
|
| ... Family 22
Fontinalaceae. |
| 18-Plants on rocks, dry soil,
tree trunks or bases (if aquatic, as Hygrophypnum, not usually slender
or floating, and with capsules on long setae) | ...19. |
| 19-Leaf cells short, the length
seldom as much as three times the width | ...20. |
| 19-Leaf cells long, more than
three times as long as wide |
|
| ... Family 18
Hypnaceae. |
| 19-Leaf cells at basal margin
rounded, subquadrate; median basal leaves elongated; on
trees |
|
| ... Family 21
Cryphaeaceae. |
| 20-Leaves papillose; plants not
much flattened |
|
| ... Family 19
Leskeaceae. |
| 20-Leaves not papillose; plants
much flattened; leaves appearing
two-ranked |
|
| ... Family 20
Neckeraceae. |
