Identification notes
Candidate examples of this robust moss can often be spotted from a considerable distance away. It forms quite firm and dense hummocks, unlike its close relatives P. commune and P. formosum, which have a looser appearance. It appears to prefer a position that is relatively high relative to the water table, unlike P. commune. Grazing livestock dislike it and in grazed situations on blanket bog and wet heath it can become quite abundant. In other suitable-looking habitats it is absent or inexplicably rare, however. Pull a shoot or two out of the hummock and the presence of dense whitish tomentum on the lower stems is diagnostic.
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