Plagiomnium affine Many-fruited Thyme-moss

A trailing, dioicous, acrocarpous moss which grows on the ground in loose patches in woodland, often along paths and tracks. The rather translucent leaves are broadly oval with toothed margins and where they are attached they run narrowly down the stem. With a x20 hand lens it is possible to see that the leaf cells, which are longer than broad, are arranged in diagonal rows. It is a common moss in the southern half of Britain, found throughout Wales and it is frequent in the lowland woodlands of West Glamorgan but uncommon in the more acidic upland oak woodlands. Sporophyte capsules are very rare.