Webera cardotii Renauld, Rev. Bryol. 15: 71. 1888 (as cardoti)

Plants medium-sized to large, green, sometimes red tinged, dull. Stems 0.4-2.5 cm. Leaves erect to ± spreading, ovate-lanceolate, 0.7-1.5 mm; margins , serrulate to serrate in distal 1/3; costa subpercurrent; distal medial laminal cells rhombic, 18-50 µm, walls thick, <± porose>. Specialized asexual reproduction absent. Sexual condition dioicous; perigonial leaves broadly short-ovate; perichaetial leaves weakly differentiated, elongate-lanceolate. Seta orange-brown. Capsule inclined 0-20°, brown to stramineous, narrowly pyriform, neck 1/3 urn length; exothecial cells short-rectangular, walls sinuate; stomata superficial; annulus present; operculum bluntly to acutely conic; exostome teeth yellow to brown, narrowly triangular-acute; endostome hyaline, basal membrane scarcely exceeding capsule rim, segments narrow, weakly keeled, distinctly perforate, cilia absent to rudimentary. Spores 14-19 µm, finely roughened.

Capsules mature summer (Jun-Aug). Soil in mesic alpine and subalpine zones; high elevations; B.C.; Alaska, Wash.; Europe.

Pohlia cardotii is a rare alpine species characterized by dull green, relatively broad leaves with wide costae and recurved margins. The sporophytes are erect, with irregular exostome teeth, a low endostomial basal membrane, and narrow, slightly keeled, broadly perforate segments. This species sometimes forms deep turfs in moist alpine sites.