Campylium protensum Dull Starry Feathermoss

A dioicous, pleurocarpous moss with a rather prostrate habit. It resembles Campylium stellatum and like that species its leaves do not have a nerve. However the leaves of Campylium protensum have a much longer drawn out tip and it is found more often in drier habitats. It can also be confused with Campylium chrysophyllum which is smaller and whose leaves have a short nerve. Its distribution in Britain is similar to that of Campylium chrysophyllum and it often grows with it along calcareous tracks where it can be a vigorous, vegetative coloniser. It occasionally grows in wet calcareous flushes with Campylium stellatum. It has a scattered distribution in West Glamorgan where it appears to be spreading in roadside habitats, particularly along forest roads in plantations. Sporophyte capsules are rare.