Specimen 5: Dicranum scoparium

Figure 1: A clump of dark green D. scoparium at the Triangle Lake Bog.

Figure 2: The hairlike leaves of  D. scoparium are elegantly swept to one side of the stem.

 (Magnification x8.4)

Figure 3: An upright shoot (about 1.5 cm tall) indicating D. scoparium is acrocarpus. 

(Magnification 8.4)

Name: Dicranum scoparium
Phylum: Bryophyta
Family: Dicranaceae
Common Name: Windswept Broom Moss
Collection Date: September 10, 2015 
Habitat: In bog area, on the ground. Not submerged in water
Location:  Triangle Lake Bog State Nature Preserve, Ravenna, Ohio
Description: Brillant green acrocarpus moss with hairlike leaves swept in one direction.  Each shoot is about 1.5-2 cm tall.
Collector: Linden Glaze

Key used: McKnight, Karl B. et al. 2013. Common Mosses of the Northeast and Appalachians. Princeton University Texts, New Jersey

Keying steps:
Key Features Path to the Keys (pg. 16):
Key Feature 1: Growth Form.... Acrocarp
Key Feature 2: Leaf Shape.... hairlike acrocarp
Key Structure 3: Midrib..... hairlike acrocarp with midrib... Key I pg. 341

Key I: Acrocarps with hairlike leaves (pg. 341)
1. Plants larger than one centimeter tall.... 3
3. Leaves swept to one side of the stem, more or less pointing in the same direction..... 4
4. Plants dark green, entire clump swept to one side.... Dicranum scoparium (pg. 47)