Plagiothecium curvifolium Curved Silk-moss

A glossy green, autoicous, pleurocarpous moss that grows in coniferous and deciduous woodland, particularly on logs and stumps. It is a calcifuge and prefers trees with acidic bark such as pine, birch and oak. Although it is widespread in Britain it is not particularly common in Wales and it is scarce in West Glamorgan where there are a few scattered records of it from woodlands mostly in Neath Port Talbot.  It is very similar to Plagiothecium laetum which is even more uncommon in Wales and largely absent from south Wales. The two species can only be reliably separated by microscopic examination of their leaf cells. Sporophyte capsules, which are inclined and curved, are frequent in autumn and winter.