''Ptilidium ciliare'' is a

liverwort The Marchantiophyta () are a division of non-vascular land plants commonly referred to as hepatics or liverworts. Like mosses and hornworts, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which cells of the plant carry only a single set of g ...

with the common names ciliated fringewort and northern naugehyde liverwort. It is widespread in

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, the northeastern

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, and northern Europe occasionally as far south as northern

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.Hampe, Georg Ernst Ludwig. ''Prodromus Florae Hercyniae'' 76. 1836.

Description

''Ptilidium ciliare'' grows in loose, reddish-brown to yellow-green tufts, with individual shoots up to 3 mm wide. Its stems are pinnate or bipinnate, with short stubby branching clusters of dense overlapping leaves covering its stem. The leaves are up to 2.8 mm wide and 2.3 mm long, and the leaves are finely serrated or ciliated, the margins extended as fringe-like rows of thin teeth. The teeth make it difficult to see that the leaves are bilobed. Sexual reproductive structures are very rarely observed on this species.

Habitat

''Ptilidium ciliare'' is commonly found in lowland to upland habitats such as acidic

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...

, rocky slopes, cliff ledges,

scree Scree is a collection of broken rock fragments at the base of a cliff or other steep rocky mass that has accumulated through periodic rockfall. Landforms associated with these materials are often called talus deposits. Talus deposits typically ha ...

s, wall tops, dwarf shrub heaths,

bogs A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main Wetland#Types, types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, ...

sand dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...

s and heathy woodlands. It is usually seen growing amongst a mixture of other

bryophyte The Bryophyta s.l. are a proposed taxonomic division containing three groups of non-vascular land plants (embryophytes): the liverworts, hornworts and mosses. Bryophyta s.s. consists of the mosses only. They are characteristically limited in ...

species. Well-drained and acidic substrates are the preferred growth medium of this species. It rarely grows on fallen logs and branches.

Similar species

Stunted forms of ''P. ciliare'' could be mistaken for the species '' P. pulcherrimum'', but ''P. pulcherrimum'' is smaller, and more compact, almost always growing closely to bark. Mastigophora woodsii is a more robust plant, with longer, attenuated branches on which the leaf size gradually tapers towards the tips.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1394485 Ptilidiales Flora of North America Flora of Europe