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

Species description:
Species name refers to a broom, from the swept appearance of the leaves on the stem.

Reproduction:
Sporophytes common, maturing in spring. In exposed areas the plants often produce brittle shoots that are undoubtedly important to propagation.

Comments:
Sometimes called "stork's bill moss" in reference to the strongly snouted operculum, or "broom moss" based on the fre­quently curved swept-to-one-side appearance of the leaves.

Distinguishing characteristics:
This is an extremely variable species with considerable habitat diversity; therefore, it is readily confused with sev­eral other species of Dicranum. The most useful features include the non-undulate, usually curved leaves (except in drier open nutrient-poor sites), the usual lack of abundant matting of rhizoids, and the occurrence of single sporophytes on each shoot.

Habit:
Forming loose to dense, tall turfs of glossy, pale to dark green, generally unbranched or irregularly branched plants that show consid­erable variability in leaf orientation.

Similar Species:
From D. majus, D. scoparium is readily distinguished on the basis of the multiple sporophytes in the former. When vegeta­tive, these species are difficult to separate, even on microscopic charac­ters. From species of Campylopus and Paraleucobryum the very broad midrib in these two genera will separate D. scoparium with its narrower midrib. In these genera the midrib occupies 1/3, or more of the leaf width.