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

Racomitrium lanuginosum (Hedw.) Brid.
hoary rock-moss (racomitrium moss)
Grimmiaceae

Species Account Author: Wilf Schofield
Extracted from Some Common Mosses of British Columbia

Introduction to the Bryophytes of BC
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Distribution of Racomitrium lanuginosum
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Species Information

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Illustration Source: Some Common Mosses of BC

Species description:
Species name referring to the down-like appearance of dry mats as viewed from a distance.
Reproduction:
Sporophytes occasional, sometimes locally abundant in populations near the coast, found most abundantly near bases of mounds onĀ· boulder slopes and sloping outcrops.
Distinguishing characteristics:
The usually distant, short, lateral branches, the white hair points with the teeth showing curved sinuses between them, and the sporophytes on short branches well below the stem apex are useful features. When moist, the plants are a dark grey-green.
Habit:
Forming grayish-green to whitish-green, rounded masses or mats of loosely, but regularly short-branched plants that sometimes become almost white when dry
Similar Species:
See notes under R. canescens and R. heterostichum.

Habitat / Range

Habitat
Exposed rock surfaces and among boulders, especially on boulder slopes, occasionally forming mounds in bogs and tundra, from sea level to alpine elevations.
Range
World Distribution

Circumpolar in the Northern Hemisphere, also scattered in mountains of the tropics and in the Southern Hemisphere widespread into sub-Antarctic regions; in North America across the northern portion of Canada and extending southward in the east to Maine, and in the west to California and inland to the Rocky Mountains.

Synonyms and Alternate Names

Racomitrium hypnoides Lindb.
Racomitrium lanuginosum var. subimberbe (Hartm.) Lindb.
Rhacomitrium lanuginosum (Hedw.) Brid.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Range and Status Information Links

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General References