HABITAT: Brachythecium salebrosum, one of the green silk mosses, is found on shaded soil, stones, bases of trees, and logs, often in rather dry and disturbed places (common in lawns).

LOCATION: Widely distributed throughout North America, it has been found locally in Champaign and Hocking counties in Ohio, and literature reports finding it in Cuyahoga and Lake counties.

GAMETOPHYTE: Brachythecium salebrosum is a forest creeping moss that has plicate leaves (folds that resemble accordian folds) and is found in loose, somewhat shiny, green, yellowish or brownish mats. Stems of the gametophyte are creeping or somewhat ascending and are freely branched. Leaves are loosely erect, serrulate above, with a costa about 2/3 the leaf length. The upper cells are linear and the alar cells subquadrate and thin-walled.

SPOROPHYTE: The setae of Brachythecium salebrosum are 10-27mm long, yellowish or reddish and smooth. The capsule is short and thick (brachy=short; thecium=capsule) and nearly horizontally inclined. The operculum is conic, acute, or apiculate.

USES: Brachythecium are used in Japanese moss gardens. They have been used for bedding, mattresses, cushions, and pillows, being preferred because they are insect repellent and resist rot. In India, they are used to wrap apples and plums.

RESOURCES: Crum, Howard, 1983, Mosses of the Great Lakes Forest, 3^rd Edition, University of Michigan, pp. 297-304.

Snider and Andreas, 1996, A Catalog and Atlas of the Mosses of Ohio, Columbus, Ohio.

Glime, Janice, 1993, The Elfin World of Mosses and Liverworts of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Isle Royale, Michigan Technological University.

Written by Steve DuShane
May 2001