Species description:
Both genus and species named to honour the collector J. Roell, a German botanist (1846-1928), who collected mosses in western North America.

Reproduction:
Sporophytes common, red-brown and remarkably large; maturing in summer.

Distinguishing characteristics:
This is the largest Bryum-like moss; the api­cal rosettes of divergent, somewhat glossy leaves, combined with the very large nodding sporangia and the habitat on slopes in sub alpine forests are distinctive characters.

Habit:
Loose turfs of erect, unbranched plants with rosettes of apical leaves, light to dark green and glossy, with reddish stems attached to the substratum by rhizoids at the base of the stem.

Similar Species:
Unlikely to be confused with any other moss except Rhodobryum roseum, an extremely rare moss in which the apical rosette is flat and flower-like while in Roellia the leaves diverge at an oblique angle from the apex. From species of Mnium it can be readily distin­guished by the differentiated leaf margins of that genus.

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

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Bryum sandbergii Holz.
Roellia simplex Kindb.