#dicranaceae

Once the ground is too hot for even Geothermal Kānuka to grow, Geothermal Moss (C. holomitrium) dominates - although holomitrium is a synonym for capillaceus. The latter means 'hairy', whereas holomitrium refers to the cap on the spore capsule. Holomitrium is also its own genus of mosses, which doesn't help. Campylopus comes from the Greek campylos, meaning curved, and pous, meaning foot, referring to the stalks on the capsules, which curve downwards.

The taxonomic issues seem to be well known, at least in bryology circles - apparently some workers are notorious for naming new NZ species based on trivial differences. Campylopus capillaceus was originally described in 1844, in 'Musci Antarctici; being characters with brief descriptions of the new species of mosses discovered during the voyage of H.M. Discovery ships, Erebus and Terror, in the southern circumpolar regions, together with those of Tasmania and New Zealand. London Journal of Botany 3: 533–556. The type specimens came from the Bay of Islands.

Campylopus is a large genus containing an unknown number of species - taxonomic issues again - but they're found in all parts of the world except polar regions. Most species growing on acidic or nutrient-depleted soil, so the centre of the geothermal fields is ideal.

Various authors put them in the Dicranaceae or the Leucobryaceae.

Campylopus introflexus, a moss with an unusually curled down seta. This is the structure that supports the capsule, like a stalk, and is usually much more upright to help elevate the capsule to aid spore dispersal. The second picture shows this better, with the sporophyte is folded back into the “leaves” of the moss.

This species was observed on a fallen Leptospermum laevigatum log, on a site in Cheltenham Park which was burnt in 2005 to remove the dominance of L. laevigatum and to reintroduce native vegetation. By the looks of it, it’s doing really well, and the site is scheduled for another burn soon, with council approval.

Originally described as Dicranum introflexum in 1801. Known as tankmos in the Netherlands and Belgium, thanks to the likely role tanks had in spreading the species during WWII.

Native to New Zealand, southern South America, southern Africa, southern and eastern Australia, and various other Atlantic and Pacific islands including New Caledonia and the South Sandwich Islands. However, it's also been introduced to many parts of the Northern Hemisphere, and is invasive in some areas such as Iceland, where it finds geothermal areas quite to its liking. It will sometimes reproduce asexually, with stem tips broken off and distributed by the wind. Once established, they can cover several hundred square meters within ten years.

It is a pioneer species found on bare peat after peat-cutting, on bare soils after burning or ploughing, in decalcified bogs and dunes, on rotting logs and fence posts, and on roadsides, spoil heaps, and roof shingles.

‘Dicran’, for the similarity to the moss genus Dicranum. ‘-loma’ means border, referring to the elongate cells along the leaf margins, that distinguish it from the other genus. Mostly found in the Southern Hemisphere. The related Dicranum is mostly Northern Hemisphere.

Dicranoloma are very common mosses in wet forests in Australia, and forms mats on the forest floor in the beech/podocarp forests of New Zealand. In this case it was growing as an epiphyte, next to Cladomnion ericoides and other bryophytes.

Male plants are nearly always dwarfed and epiphytic on female or sterile plants.