Status: Native
Synonyms:
Mnium ellipticum Brid.
Mnium rugicum Laurer
Plagiomnium ellipticum has abundant arching, horizontal branches with green stems (plagiotropic branches). The leaves are usually less than 6mm long and rounded toward the apex which has a small apiculus or sometimes a more stout rigid point in many leaves. The leaf margins are bluntly toothed or entire. The leaf bases are not or only slightly decurrent. The laminal cells form diagnonal rows from the costa to the margin, and conspicuously decrease in size from the cells nearest the costa to those near the margin.
The laminal cells near the costa are 50-65μm in length, unlike the similar P. rostratum in which the cells nearest the costa are much smaller at 22-35μm in length.
Radha Veach collected Plagiomnium ellipticum at Willow Creek in the Gila National Forest in 2026, and photographs of that specimen are shown on this page. Dr. Allred collected this specimen at upper elevation (8535 feet) in subalpine mixed conifer forest in the Pecos Wilderness in 2022.
Please click on an image for a larger file.
Plagiomnium ellipticum, collection, photo and ID by Radha Veach, Gila National Forest, Catron County, Mogollon Mountains, Willow Creek, June 16, 2026, June 16, 2026
Plagiomnium ellipticum, habit, collection, photo and ID by Radha Veach, Gila National Forest, Catron County, Mogollon Mountains, Willow Creek, June 16, 2026, June 16, 2026
Plagiomnium ellipticum, habit, collection, photo and ID by Radha Veach, Gila National Forest, Catron County, Mogollon Mountains, Willow Creek, June 16, 2026, June 16, 2026
Plagiomnium ellipticum, dry habit, collection and ID by Radha Veach, Gila National Forest, Catron County, Mogollon Mountains, Willow Creek, June 16, 2026, June 16, 2026; photo by Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, June 25, 2026
Plagiomnium ellipticum, photomicrograph of leaf, collection and ID by Radha Veach, Gila National Forest, Catron County, Mogollon Mountains, Willow Creek, June 16, 2026; photo by Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, June 25, 2026
Plagiomnium ellipticum, photomicrograph of leaf apex, collection and ID by Radha Veach, Gila National Forest, Catron County, Mogollon Mountains, Willow Creek, June 16, 2026; photo by Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, June 25, 2026
Plagiomnium ellipticum, photomicrograph of leaf base, collection and ID by Radha Veach, Gila National Forest, Catron County, Mogollon Mountains, Willow Creek, June 16, 2026; photo by Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, June 25, 2026
Plagiomnium ellipticum, photomicrograph of cells at midleaf, collection and ID by Radha Veach, Gila National Forest, Catron County, Mogollon Mountains, Willow Creek, June 16, 2026; photo by Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, June 25, 2026
Back to the Index