Flexitrichum gracile Slender Ditrichum

A dioicous, acrocarpous moss which form light green cushions and tufts, often in large mats in calcareous grassland, sand dunes and along tracks. The long leaves taper to a long, finely drawn-out, chanelled tip with an excurrent nerve and they become distinctly wavy when dry, a feature that helps distinguish it from Ditrichum flexicaule which is very similar but much more uncommon. It is widespread throughout Britain wherever there is a calcareous geology. In West Glamorgan it is common on the limestone along the south Gower coast but, like several other calcicole mosses, it is also frequent along forest roads that have been dressed with limestone gravel in the conifer plantations of Neath Port Talbot. Male plants are rare and sporophyte capsules are very rare.