Small Limestone Moss

Seligeria campylopoda is perhaps the most frequently collected species of the genus, and is relatively common along the calcareous parts of the western Cordillera and along the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway. Otherwise, it has a scattered distribution, known from as far north as Bathurst Inlet and as far south as Colorado and Pennsylvania. It is distinguished in having entire, lanceolate-ligulate leaves with an obtuse tip. The costa is narrow and ends in or just below the apex. The leaf lamina is present in the apex of the leaf. The setae are long and usually curved (most noticeable when moist) in their distal portions. The capsules are longer than broad, being ovate-oblong when dry.

Plants tiny, olive green. Leaves lanceolate-ligulate, gradually narrowed, obtuse to broadly acute; costae ending just below apex; margins entire; leaf cells (1-)2:1; perichaetial leaves larger, similar to vegetative leaves, not much differentiated. Seta 1.6-3 mm, flexuose to curved 30-90° in distal portion especially when dry. Capsule ovate-oblong to ovate-cylindric, longer than broad, narrower at mouth; peristome of 16 well-developed teeth; columella immersed. Spores 10-12 µm.

Seligeria recurvata (Hedwig) Bruch & Schimper var. arcuata Lesquereux & James; S. subcampylopoda Kindberg

Seligeria campylopoda Kindb.; Macoun, Cat. Can
PI. 6 : 41. 1892.
Seligeria recxirvata arctiata Lesq. & James, Man. 97. 1884.
Seligeria subcampylopoda Kindb.; Broth, in E. & P. Nat. Pfl. 1': 1176, nomen nudum. 1909.
Plants gregarious, small, 1-3 mm. high; stems short, usually simple and unbranched: leaves crowded, 1-1.5 mm. long, lanceolate-acuminate, not subulate, erect, spreading or recurved; costa stout, ending below the apex and not filling the point, subpapillose on the back, above ; margins entire or sometimes clearly serrate and re volute ; basal cells oblong, the marginal ones linear, clear, the upper rounded or square with thick projecting walls ; perichaetial leaves erect, rarely subulate with percurrent costa, the base longer and broader. Dioicous, autoicous, or synoicous (?): seta recurved when moist, usually 2-3 mm., rarely 4-5 mm. long: calyptra cucuUate: capsule small, 0.5-1 mm. long, ovoid or pyriform, not wide-mouthed; neck skort, stomatose; lid with a long, sharp beak; walls thin, of irregular oblong cells; mouth bordered by 2-3 rows of cells; peristome bright-red or brown, deeply inserted; teeth with 12-14 thick joints, perforate or split above: spores small, 8-10 /i in diameter, .slightly roughened, maturing in September and October.
Type locality: Owen Sound, Ontario.
Distribution: On damp and shaded limestone rocks and boulders, Newfoundland; Ontario; Niagara Falls; New York; Ohio; Montana; British Columbia.