Leucobryum glaucum Large White-moss

A dioicous, acrocarpous moss which forms dense pale, glaucous-green cushions or hummocks on damp, acidic humous and peat, which look white when they are dry. It can only be confused with Lucobryum juniperoideum and it is very difficult to separate them in the field. However Leucobryum glaucum is often found in wet heathland and acidic, peaty grasslands as much as in woodland, whereas Leucobryum juniperoideum is a species of drier habitats mostly in woodland, including conifer plantations. Leaf shape is often used as an aid to identification; the wide, basal part of the leaf in Leucobryum glaucum is usually longer (not shorter) than the narrow upper part whereas with Leucobryum juniperoideum the narrow upper par of the leaf is longer than the wide basal part; (for other useful identification features, see description of Leucobryum juniperoideum). It is locally frequent in Britain but absent from much of south, east and middle England. It has a patchy distribution in south Wales and it is local in West Glamorgan where it is found most often in heathland and marshy grasslands, such as on the Gower Commons and in the acidic, peaty grasslands of the Dulais Valley. Sporophyte capsules are rare. Male plants are uncommon and epiphytic on the females.