E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Species description:
Species name meaning turgid, describing the fat leafy shoots.

Reproduction:
Sporophytes rare; have never been collected in B. C. The plants fragment readily; presumably this is the main method of propagation.

Distinguishing characteristics:
The turgid shoots, non-glossy leaves with rounded tips, combined with the yellow-green to golden colour, and open habitat, are distinctive.

Habit:
Forming yellow-green to golden yellow, tight or loose turfs with abundant red-brown rhizoids among the leaf bases.

Similar Species:
From A. palustre, which A. turgidum sometimes re­sembles, the absence of gemma-bearing shoots, the leaf shape (espe­cially the rounded rather than pointed tips) and the fact that the leaves do not become twisted when dry are sufficient to separate the two. A. acuminatum is similar in form but its leaves are sharply pointed.