Callicladium imponens
Callicladium imponens, commonly known as brocade moss, is a moss native to Greenland, parts of eastern North America, and Europe. It is usually golden to yellow-green, sometimes brownish. Stems are typically 3–10 cm long. It lacks a hyalodermis but has a weak central strand.
Leaves are curved to one side (falcate-secund), triangular-ovate to oblong-lanceolate, about 1.8–2 mm long and 0.6–0.8 mm wide. The base of the leaf is decurrent and without ear-like lobes. Margins are flat or slightly recurved at the base, with small teeth toward the tip. The tip is slender. The moss is dioicous, meaning male and female reproductive parts are on separate plants.
Callicladium imponens has pigmented, varied alar cells, reddish stems, long-toothed foliose pseudoparaphyllia, and nearly erect cylindrical capsules. Branches typically spread in a single horizontal plane. Capsules mature from July to September.
It grows on decaying logs, rocks, and soil at various elevations.
Distribution: Greenland; Canadian provinces including New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Prince Edward Island; much of the eastern United States; and Europe.
Synonyms include Hypnum imponens, Hypnum cupressiforme var. imponens, and Stereodon imponens.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 13:45 (CET).