Identification notes
This tiny but very distinctive species is a pioneer of calcareous soils where it will typically grow in quite sheltered places (ledges, bank scoops etc). Its capsules mature very rapidly, making plants easy to see between November and March or sometimes April. Although small, it usually grows in quite dense aggregations where the red colour of the capsule and seta stand out as reddish splashes on the ground.
It usually grows with a number of other winter ephemerals including Fissidens incurvus, Weissia brachycarpa var. obliqua, Microbryum davallianum and more rarely, Pottiopsis caespitosa. Sometimes it also grows with M. rectum, which is normally distinct in its erect, more spherical capsules.
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