Bryum lescurianum Sullivant, Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts, n. s. 4: 171. 1849; Pohlia pulchella (Hedwig) Lindberg

Plants small, pale whitish, somewhat glossy. Stems0.3-0.8 cm. Leaves erect to ± spreading, lanceolate, 0.7-1.2 mm; ; margins serrulate to serrate in distal 1/3; costa subpercurrent; distal medial laminal cells linear-rhomboidal, 65-110 µm, walls thin. Specialized asexual reproduction occasionally present; rhizoidal tubers orange, orange-brown, or yellow. Sexual condition dioicous; perigonial leaves ovate; perichaetial leaves weakly differentiated, lanceolate to linear-lanceolate. Seta orange-brown. Capsule inclined 95-180°, brown to stramineous, broadly short-pyriform, neck 1/3 urn length; exothecial cells short-rectangular, walls sinuate; stomata superficial; annulus present; operculum short- to long-conic; exostome teeth light yellow-brown, triangular-acute; endostome hyaline, basal membrane 1/2 exostome length, segments , distinctly keeled, broadly perforate, cilia short to rudimentary. Spores 15-21 µm, finely roughened.

Capsules mature spring (Apr-Jun). Disturbed soil, soil on upturned tree bases, path banks, rock crevices, along streams; low elevations; N.B., Nfld. and Labr., N.S., P.E.I., Que.; Conn., Iowa, Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Mont., N.H., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Pa., Tenn., Vt., Va., W.Va.; Europe.

Pohlia lescuriana is an inconspicuous woodland species in eastern North America; it often grows in small sterile patches and can be recognized by the slender, pale green shoots. The sporophytes, never common, are short-pyriform to urceolate when dry. Yellow to orange gemmae sometimes occur on the rhizoids.