Identification notes
This rather common plant is so nondescript that it was not described until 1969. It is a typical member of the arable bryophyte community of mildly acid soils, and can be found on disturbed ground elsewhere. The plants are a fresh green colour, forming tufts or scattered plants with rather spreading tapered leaves giving it a slightly prickly appearance.
Unlike Dicranella varia and D.rufescens, the leaves are rarely secund. The margins are plane and the leaf cells are wider than in Dicranella varia, being about 10-14µm wide. Irregular brownish tubers are always found, usually in abundance.
It is the sort of plant that you need to keep in the back of your mind in suitable habitats, as it is quite easy to pass over.
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