Splachnum froelichianum Hedwig, Sp. Musc. Frond., 52. 1801

Plants 1-2 cm, in loose tufts, yellow-green. Stems unbranched. Leaves uniformly spaced along stem, slightly contorted when dry, obovate to oblong, 1-2.8 × 0.8-1.2 mm; margins plane or slightly revolute proximally, ± entire; apex bluntly acute, obtuse; costa subpercurrent, ending 6 or fewer cells before apex. Specialized asexual reproduction absent. Sexual condition cladautoicous or synoicous. Seta dark orange, 1 cm, twisted, stout. Capsule pyriform, conic, or globose-conic, urn 1 mm; hypophysis dark orange, as long as urn; columella included; operculum deciduous, flat to conic, apex often blunt, oblique; peristome inserted at mouth; exostome teeth 8, connate in pairs, erect to slightly reflexed when dry, yellow to tan, lanceolate. Spores 27-48 µm, coarsely papillose.

Capsules mature summer. Mesic semidisturbed sites; high elevations; Alta., B.C., Yukon; Alaska, Colo., Utah; n, c Europe; w, s Asia.

Tayloria froelichiana can be distinguished most readily from T. hornschuchii by several sporophytic traits: hypophysis twisted and conic, tapering quickly to the seta; operculum deciduous, with an included columella; exostome reticulate to striate, teeth paired, eight in number; and sexual condition cladautoicous or synoicous. The leaves of T. froelichiana are slightly keeled; the proximal leaves are somewhat radiculose. In addition, T. froelichiana differs from T. hornschuchii by the lack of axillary propagula and longer basal (125-195µm) and apical (75-115 µm) laminal cells.