Syntrichia laevipila Small Hairy Screw-moss

A synoicous, acrocarpous moss which forms bright yellow-green patches on trees, particularly elm, ash, old elders and willows. It is simlar to other Syntrichia species that also have rounded leaf apices and hair points, but the hair point on the leaves of Syntrichia laevipila is smooth (not toothed) and the margins of the leaf are hardly recurved. Some plants produce clusters of leaf-like gemmae at the tips of their shoots and these plants are often dioicous. However it is quite a variable species. It is widespread and fairly common in southern Britain becoming scarcer in the north. It is found throughout much of Wales and is scattered in West Glamorgan, but mostly lowland in its distribution. Sporophyte capsules are frequent in spring and summer.