Leucodon sciuroides Squirrel-tail Moss

A fairly robust, brownish-green, dioicous pleurocarpous moss which grows as an epiphyte on the trunks and branches of trees and also on vertical base-rich rock faces, such as monuments and standing stones. The leaves have obvious longtituinal pleats and become tightly appressed to the stem when dry and then the shoots become curved in a very characteristic way (see photo). It has a scattered ditsribution in Britain and is most common in the south of England. It is much less common in Wales and it is rare in West Glamorgan and only recorded from Gower. Sporophyte capsules are rare.