Ditrichaceae

Diagnosis: Plants slender, silky, densely tufted, yellowish green; stems 1-2 cm high, sparsely to densely tomentose. Leaves erect, flexuose, 2-3 mm long, lanceolate-subulate, from a narrow subclasping base; margins erect to narrowly incurved, entire or faintly serrulate; costa percurrent to short excurrent with a few blunt teeth at the apex; cells firm-walled to incrassate, basal cells linear, 30-60 µm long, upper cells short-rectangular, 10-25 µm long. Setae 10-20 mm long, yellow becoming reddish with age; capsules erect to inclined, cylindric, 2 mm long; opercula conic-rostrate, 1 mm long, red; peristome teeth 0.5-0.6 mm long. Spores nearly smooth, 15 µm diameter.

Distribution: cosmopolitan

Ecology: Low to high montane forest and subpáramo, shaded to more commonly exposed sites, on soil and rocks, often found on steep banks, 300-4150 m but more frequent at higher elevations.

Basionym: Trichostomum difficile Duby

Basionym Citation: Systematisches Verzeichniss der von H. Zollinger in den Jahren 1842--1844 134. 1846.

Other Published Figures: E. B. Bartram. 1949. Mosses of Guatamala. fig. 11 F-H (as D. rufescens); R. E. Magill. 1981. Flora of Southern Africa. fig. 24(1-9).