Fissidens osmundoides Purple-stalked Pocket-moss

A medium-sized, Arctic-Montane Pocket-moss with unbordered leaves, which grows in tufts on moist ledges, cliffs and rock by streams, especially where there is some base-richness. Although it can be found in lowland habitats it is more often found on rock faces in the uplands with species like Amphidium mougeotii and Fissidens adianthoides. The down-turned, hooded tips lend a round-backed appearance to the shoots, although some forms of Fissidens adianthoides can also exhibit this feature to a lesser extent. The leaf margins are not so obviously toothed as in Fissidens adianthoides and unlike Fissidens taxifolius, another source of confusion, the nerve ends in or just short of the tip. It has a western and northern distribution in Britain and it is locally frequent in the uplands of Wales. There are scattered records from Neath Port Tabot in West Glamorgan, but it is relatively uncommon overall. Sporophyte capsules are occasional.