Polytrichum sylvaticum Menzies, Bot. Zeitung (Regensburg) 1: 74. 1802; Pogonatum alpinum var. macounii (Kindberg) Cardot & Thériot; P. macounii (Kindberg) Kindberg & Macoun; Polytrichum alpinum var. campanulatum (Hornschuch) Müller Hal.; P. alpinum var. sylvaticum (Menzies) Lindberg

Stems to 14 cm, simple or sparingly branched. Leaves (9-)12-14(-19) mm, coarsely toothed. Capsule 5-8 × 1.5-2.2 mm, often ± zygomorphic and widest below the middle, suberect to inclined to almost horizontal.

Soil, moist woods; low to moderate elevations (to 1400 m); B.C.; Alaska, Oreg., Wash.

Variety sylvaticum is a robust plant of the Pacific Northwest with stems to 14 cm high, sharply serrate leaves to as much as 19 mm, and large, plump, cylindric capsules, often ± zygomorphic. The type was collected by Menzies somewhere on the Northwest coast; Pogonatum macounii was collected in a ravine at 1370 m on Vancouver Island. Polytrichum alpinum var. campanulatum has large, ovoid-gibbous, almost horizontal capsules and is probably distinct, but its distribution is poorly understood.