About Odontoschisma sphagni (Dicks.) Dumort.
Odontoschisma sphagni (Dicks.) Dumort. is a prostrate plant that grows horizontally rather than vertically, forming large, dense mats. Its colour ranges from pale yellow-green to reddish-brown. Leafy shoots measure 1-5 cm long and 1.2-3 mm wide, and are usually unbranched. The stem is colourless and rigid, 10-15 cells tall, composed of 60-120 epidermis cells surrounding 70-100 larger inner cells. It has undivided flat leaves 0.9-1.4 mm long, and cylindrical perianths. Its spores are 10-15 µm in diameter, and gemmae are absent. O. sphagni occurs in temperate-suboceanic areas of Europe and North America, as well as northern Mexico. It grows at low elevations, reaching up to 1,500 meters in Jamaica. In Europe, it has been recorded in Poland, western Russia, Bulgaria, northern Italy, Spain, Madeira, and the Azores. In the New World, O. sphagni was originally described under the name O. prostratum. Compared to European populations, O. sphagni in the Americas is slightly smaller, and prefers to grow on soil or soil over rock.
