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These are the only distichous (leaves in two ranks) acrocarpous genera occurring
on our continent, and only the first two are very likely to be encountered
here. SCHISTOSTEGA (Cave Moss) has been found a few times in Ontario in
dark places cut off from direct light. BRYOXIPHIUM (Sword Moss) has never
been found in Canada at all. It is a curious moss found on some vertical
sandstone cliffs across the U.S., Greenland and Iceland. It illustrates
here the wide ranging form of this limited group.
The FISSIDENS genus is unusual in having species in both
acrocarpous and pleurocarpous groupings. Position of the sporophyte
determines to which group the species belongs. See also Growth Form Plate
#8.
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