Dicranoweisia cirrata

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Identification notes

This calcifuge is most familiar as a species of acid bark (such as birches and oaks) and similar man-made habitat. Indeed, decaying wooden fence posts (where it is often seen with Ceratodon purpureus and/or Campylopus introflexus) may be the only habitat available for this moss in lime-rich districts. However, it often foxes people when it is found growing on sandstone or other hard base-poor rocks. Acid rainfall in the 20th Century was thought to favour D. cirrata by causing acidification of its substrates and reducing competition from other species but reduced air pollution since then may have contributed to a reversal of its fortunes.

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Distribution in Great Britain and Ireland

View distribution from the BBS Atlas 2014

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