Identification notes
The best time to look for S. agassizii is late spring to early summer, when mature capsules are usually present and when the watercourses it lives in are low and accessible to bryologists. When dry, the capsules look very short and flared at the mouth, and then they really stand out from the darkly coloured cushions of shoots. In fact many plants are so darkly coloured that without capsules they are likely to be mistaken (at a glance) for Racomitrium aciculare, which is a common associate. Microscopic checks will usually be needed to confirm the plane upper leaf margins of S. agassizii.
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