Isothecium alopecuroides Larger Mouse-tail Moss

A robust, yellow-green, dioicous, pleurocarpous moss found in broad-leaved woodlands on base-rich soils. Where it occurs, it is particularly abundant on the lower parts of trees and on the roots, but also on rock. Like Isothecium myosuroides it has a dendroid form, but it is usually larger, paler in colour and with much blunter, shortly-pointed leaves (see photos). It is found throughout Britain but is very rare in some parts of middle England. It is widespread in Wales but rather scarce in Glamorgan and in Flora of Glamorgan, Roy Perry described it as an uncommon species of tree bases. In West Glamorgan there are scattered records from Gower, e.g the south Gower Ash woodlands,  but its preference for base-rich sites is apparent from its absence in the woodlands of the South Wales Coalfield further east. Sporophyte capsules are occasional in winter.