Blandow’s helodium moss

(Helodium blandowii)

Conservation Status
IUCN Red List

NT - Near Threatened (Europe)

not listed (North America)

NatureServe

NNR - Unranked

SNR - Unranked

Minnesota

not listed

 
Blandow’s helodium moss
Photo by Photo by Luciearl
 
Description

Blandow’s helodium moss is a common and widespread, large, erect, feather moss. It occurs throughout the Northern Hemisphere (Holarctic) in Europe, Asia, and North America. In the United States, it occurs in the east from Maine to New Jersey, west to Minnesota and Iowa, and south along the Appalachian Mountains to northern Georgia. In the west, it occurs from Washington and Oregon, east to western Montana, south along the Rocky Mountains to Colorado, and in the Sierra Nevada Mountain range. It also occurs in Canada across the south and in the west north to Alaska.

Blandow’s helodium moss is found in open and wooded, moderately rich fens, in alkaline rich (calcareous) fens, at the edges of forested swamps, at the bases of trees in peat bogs, and in sand bars in creeks. It grows in soil that is permanently or seasonally saturated, flooded, or ponded for a long enough period to create oxygen-free (anaerobic) conditions. It often forms large, coarse mats on slightly raised humps (hummocks) rising above the marsh. It is sometimes hidden beneath dense thatch and low shrubs. The greatest hazard in peatlands is trampling by uninformed visitors.

The plants are large and yellow to yellowish green.

The stems are densely packed, erect, yellow to reddish brown, and closely and evenly branched. They are often swollen at the tip. The branching is 1-pinnate, meaning the branches are not themselves branched. The branches get gradually shorter approaching the stem tip, but each branch is nearly equal to the one above and below. The stems and branches appear cobwebby due to a dense covering of long, green, thread-like structures (paraphyllia). They appear dark when wet. Each paraphyllum is up to 27 cells in length.

Stem and branch leaves are closely spaced, overlapping, and erect to somewhat spreading. Stem leaves are 364 to 116 (1.2 to 1.5 mm) in length. Branch leaves are 132 (0.6 to 0.8 mm) in length. The leaf base is heart shaped (cordate). The leaf tip is drawn out (acuminate). The pointed tip (acumen) is broad. The leaf surface is somewhat longitudinally folded but not quite pleated (sulcate). The midvein (costa) extends 2/3 to 4/5 the length of the blade, ending at or before the acumen. The margins are upright at the leaf base but then curve downwards towards the leaf tip. They have short, sharp teeth.

Spore-bearing reproductive structures (sporophytes) are rarely produced. When present, the sporophyte is a small capsule at the end of a long stalk (seta). The seta is slender, reddish-orange, smooth, and 1 916 to 2 (4 to 6 cm) long. At the end of the capsule there is an obliquely angled opening. When immature the capsule opening (mouth) is covered with a membranous hood (operculum) and a large, smooth cap (calyptra). The operculum is straight and cone-shaped or beak-like. As it matures, the capsule develops a ring around the opening (annulus). When mature, the annulus forces the operculum and calyptra to drop off exposing the capsule opening. The mature capsule is held horizontally. It is (3 to 4 mm) long, cylinder shaped, and asymmetric, flattened below and very curved above. Around the opening there are two sets of teeth. The outer set has 16 yellowish teeth. The inner teeth are translucent and papery (hyaline) to yellowish.

 

Growth Form

Pleurocarp

 

Height

 

 

Similar Species

 
Habitat

Fens, edges of swamps, peat bogs, and sand bars in creeks

Ecology

Phenology

Capsules mature in the spring.

Use

 

Distribution

Distribution Map

 

Sources

2, 4, 10, 28, 29, 30.

Janssens, J.A. 2014. Noteworthy Mosses & Liverworts of Minnesota, Part II: Species Fact Sheets. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources 2014, 208 pp.

12/29/2024    
     

Nativity

Native

     

Occurrence

Frequent in Minnesota

Taxonomy

Kingdom

Plantae (green algae and land plants)

Subkingdom

Viridiplantae (green plants)

Infrakingdom

Streptophyta (land plants and green algae)

Superdivision

Embryophyta (land plants)

Division

Bryophyta (mosses)

Subdivision

Bryophytina (moss)

Class

Bryopsida (joint-toothed mosses)

Subclass

Bryidae

Superorder

Hypnanae

Order

Hypnales (feather mosses)

Family

Helodiaceae

Genus

Helodium (helodium moss)

   

Family
iNaturalist places the genus Helodium in the family Thuidiaceae. All other sources place it in the family Helodiaceae.

Genus
A recent article (Eckel, Patricia M., 2012) summarized the history of the spelling of the genus Elodium. Some authors have spelled the name with an initial “h” as “Helodium”, others with an initial “e” as “Elodium”. The latter name was previously a subspecies of the genus Thuidium and later of the genus Hypnum. The article’s author concluded that both names should be preserved as genera. Two species were transferred to the genus Elodium, and one variety was raised to full species status.

The transfer has had a mixed reception. Flora of North America, ITIS, and NatureServe use the name Elodium blandowii. Most other sources, including USDA PLANTS, GBIF, World Flora Online, and Consortium of Bryophyte Herbaria, use the name Helodium blandowii.

Species epithet
Catalog of life spells the species epithet “blandovii” with a “v”. It also “corrects” every reference to the species in historical literature to that spelling.

   

Subordinate Taxa

GBIF recognizes one variety:

Helodium blandowii var. helodioides

 

USDA PLANTS recognizes two varieties:

Helodium blandowii var. blandowii

Helodium blandowii var. helodioides

 

Naturserve recognizes three varieties:

Helodium blandowii var. blandowii

Helodium blandowii var. elodioides

Helodium blandowii var. helodioides

 

Most sources do not recognize any varieties.

   

Synonyms

Abietinella abietina var. paludosum

Elodium blandowii

Elodium lanatum

Elodium pseudoabietinum

Helodium blandowii var. blandowii

Helodium lanatum

Helodium pseudoabietinum

Hypnum abietinum var. paludosum

Hypnum blandowii

Hypnum filicinum var. lanatum

Hypnum lanatum

Leskea blandowii

Stereodon blandowii

Thuidium blandovii

Thuidium blandowii

Thuidium lanatum

Thuidium pseudoabietinum

   

Common Names

Blandow’s bog moss

Blandow’s feather moss

Blandow’s helodium moss

Blandow’s tamarisk-moss

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Calcareous

Alkaline; rich in limestone; containing a high proportion of calcium carbonate.

 

Costa

On ferns: The central axis of a pinna, to which pinnules are attached. On mosses: the central axis (midvein) of a leaf. On insects: The vein on the leading edge of the forewing.

 

Seta

A stiff, hair-like process on the outer surface of an organism. In Lepidoptera: A usually rigid bristle- or hair-like outgrowth used to sense touch. In mosses: The stalk supporting a spore-bearing capsule and supplying it with nutrients. Plural: setae. Adjective: setose.

 

 

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Luciearl

Blandow’s helodium moss   Blandow’s helodium moss
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Luciearl
10/27/2024

Location: Fairview Twp.

Blandow’s helodium moss
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Created: 12/29/2024

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