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

Species description:
Genus name referring to the cord-like twisting of the drying seta (hence "cord moss" as a popular name). Species name also denoting the twisting and curling of the seta of this species in response to chang­ing moisture in the air.

Reproduction:
Sporophytes common in spring to summer.

Comments:
The consistent appearance of this moss on the sites of abandoned bonfires and after forest fires is intriguing.

Distinguishing characteristics:
The pale yellow, extremely curved seta, when young and the very inflated lower part of the long-snouted calyptra added to the sheathing leaves at the seta base, provide characters that quickly identify this moss. In mature sporangia the grooves are distinctive.

Habit:
Short loose turfs of yellow-green, glossy, often bulb-like plants.

Similar Species:
F. muhlenbergii lacks the curved seta and grows on somewhat shaded, usually fine-textured soil.