Juniper haircap moss (Polytrichum juniperinum)
Description
The stems are reddish with grey-green leaves that have a distinctive red-brown tip. This characteristic allows them to be separated from the bristly haircap, a plant that the juniper haircap moss have a close resemblance to; the difference is that the bristly haircap have a green tip. The leaves of juniper haircap moss are lanceolate and upright spreading when dry, and when moist, wide-spreading. Although their growth form can be varied, they generally grow in thin, interwoven mats, and hardly as closely associated individuals. Juniper haircap moss have a well-developed system of tiny tubes for carrying water from the rhizoids to leaves that is uncharacteristic of mosses, resembling the system that has evolved in vascular plants such as ferns, gymnosperms and angiosperms. As a result of this developed system, stems have greater potential for height than in typical mosses
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum: Bryophyta
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Class: Bryopsida
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Order: Polytrichales
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Family: Polytrichaceae
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Genus: Polytrichum
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