Calliergon giganteum (Schimp.) Kindb.
giant water-moss (giant calliergon moss)
Amblystegiaceae
Species Account Author: Wilf Schofield
Extracted from Some Common Mosses of BC
Introduction to the Bryophytes of BC
giant water-moss (giant calliergon moss)
Amblystegiaceae
Species Account Author: Wilf Schofield
Extracted from Some Common Mosses of BC
Introduction to the Bryophytes of BC
Species Information
Species description:
Genus name meaning "beautiful form" is reference to the frequently tidy branching and attractive appearance of the leafy plants. The species name denoting the very large plants that, in floating mats, can reach lengths of 350 mm or more.
Reproduction:
Sporophytes infrequent; seta red, smooth, twisted when dry; sporangium reddish-brown when mature, smooth but not glossy; peristome teeth yellow-brown.
Distinguishing characteristics:
The regularly pinnate plants with blunt-tipped leaves bearing a midrib, associated with the wet habitat in calcareous substrata, are usually reliable features. Swollen alar cells are usually visible with a hand lens.
Habit:
Forming dense or loose mats of suberect to erect interwoven shoots that vary from light to dark green to often tinged with yellow or brown; plants often stiff and accumulating white coatings of calcium carbonate.
Similar Species:
C. giganteum can be distinguished from Calliergonella cuspidata by its obscure midrib; the midrib in Caltiergon is distinct. C. cordifo/ium is similar but usually little-branched and the alar cells are not obvious or swollen as is evident in C. giganteum. C. sarmentosum is usually wine-red, irregularly branched and mainly alpine or subalpine. P/eurozium schreberi has two midribs and is generally a terrestrial species of dry habitats; swollen alar cells are absent and the stems are red-brown (in C. giganteum they are green to brown).
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: Some Common Mosses of BC
Habitat and Range
Habitat
Sometimes locally abundant, especially in northern and interior localities in wet depressions, lakeshores, pond margins and wetland in calcareous terrain, sometimes forming floating mats; rare near sea level, extending to subalpine elevations, usually in non-forested sites but sometimes margined by forestRange
World DistributionCircumboreal in the Northern Hemisphere, extending northward in arctic latitudes; in North America extending southward, in the east to Pennsylvania and in the west to Colorado.
Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Calliergon giganteum (Mik.) Karcz.
Calliergon giganteum (Mik.) Karcz.
Calliergon giganteum var. cyclophyllotum
Calliergon giganteum var. dendroides
Calliergon giganteum var. fluitans
Calliergon giganteum var. hystricosum G. Roth & Bock in G. Roth
Calliergon giganteum var. immersum Ruthe ex Karcz.
Calliergon giganteum var. labradorense (Ren. & Card.) Grout
Calliergon giganteum var. pennatum Karcz.
Calliergon giganteum var. tenue Karcz.
Calliergon subsarmentosum Kindb. sensu Rev. Bryol. 36: 42. 1909