Pleurozium schreberi

Pleurozium schreberi, the red-stemmed feathermoss^[1] or Schreber's big red stem moss,^[2] is a moss with a loose growth pattern.^[3] The prefix 'pleuro-' is derived from the Latin word for ribs, possibly referring to the way the branches extend from the stem.

Pleurozium schreberi
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Bryophyta
Class:	Bryopsida
Subclass:	Bryidae
Order:	Hypnales
Family:	Hylocomiaceae
Genus:	Pleurozium
Species:	P. schreberi
Binomial name
Pleurozium schreberi (Brid.) Mitt.

The species is commonly found on the floor of the boreal forests of Canada, Scandinavia, and northern Russia. It is a characteristic component of black spruce/feathermoss climax forest, which sometimes have a moderately dense overstory canopy and a forest floor dominated by feathermosses such as Hylocomium splendens and Ptilium crista-castrensis.^[4]

In a study of the effect of the herbicide Asulam on moss growth found that Pleurozium schreberi exhibited intermediate sensitivity to exposure.^[5]

Gallery

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  Pleurozium schreberi carpeting the floor of black spruce (Picea mariana) and balsam fir (Abies balsamea) forest in New Brunswick, Canada.