Common name: Lurid Cupola moss

Habitat: This genus is calciphilic and is primarily found in open calcareous fens containing sedges. Other habitats in which Cinclidium stygium grows include the shores of the Great Lakes on the margins of beach pools, along the banks of streams which drain fens, and on wet rocks at the edge of fen seepages.

Distribution: Cinclidium stygium is found near the shores of the Great Lakes, but it is far more common further north in areas ranging from Alaska to Greenland and south to Newfoundland, Ontario, northern Michigan, and New York. With regards to global distribution, this species is also found in northern and central Europe, Japan, Siberia, and Tierra del Fuego. This species has a global rank of 5, which means "very common" and "demonstrably secure under present conditions," but in Ontario, it has a restricted range with relatively few populations, which have undergone "recent and widespread declines, making it vulnerable to extirpation" (http://nhic.mnr.gov.on.ca/).

Gametophyte appearance: Plants are moderately robust in loose tufts measuring 3-8 cm, but can grow to be 13 cm. They appear red-brown or green with red tinges, and when growing they appear a lighter green color. Stems are reddish, but appear black as the plant ages. Leaves are erect-spreading, but are contorted when dry, and they are bluntly rounded with an abruptly narrowed apiculus. Leaves are bordered by 3-4 narrow rows of thick-walled cells which form a distinct red-brown border. The costae are reddish, and the margins are revolute.

Sporophyte appearance: Setae are 40-65 mm long and rarely appear in pairs. This species is synoicous, having antheridia and archegonia combined in the same inflorescence. Capsules are 2-3 mm long and pyriform (pear-shaped). The annulus has one row of cells, and the operculum is occasionally mammillate. Peristome teeth are pale-yellowish and the endostome is dark brown. The spores have a wide range of size, 31-68 um, within the same capsules, and they are finely roughened.

Taxonomy: Kingdom: Plantae, Division: Bryophyta, Class: Bryopsida, Subclass: Bryidae, Order: Bryales, Family: Mniaceae

Note: This species has a similar appearance to Mnium punctatum, which has a similar distribution in North America, but is distributed further south to Georgia and Arkansas, and west to Colorado and California. Mnium punctatum is also found in different habitats, including wet soil, rotting logs, humus, and rocks in swampy woods.

Resources:
Crum, H.A. and L.E. Anderson, Mosses of Eastern North America, Columbia University Press, 1981, pgs. 611-614.
Crum, H.A., Mosses of the Great Lakes Forest, 3rd ed., University of Michigan: Ann Arbor, 1983, pgs. 188-189.
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. Accessed 5/19/2006. Accessed at: http://nhic.mnr.gov.on.ca/nhic_.cfm.
Schofield, W.B., Introduction to Bryology, Macmillan Publishing Company, 1985, pgs.111-113.
United States Department of Agriculture. Accessed 5/19/2006. Accessed at: http://plants.usda.gov.

Written by Nathan Smucker
May 2006