Orthothecium rufescens
in P. Bruch and W. P. Schimper, Bryol. Europ. 5: 107. 1851.
Plants large, in mats, reddish to brownish. Stems 4–10 cm, 3 mm wide, erect or ascending, sparingly branched. Leaves ± appressed when dry, erect-spreading when moist, straight, linear-lanceolate, strongly plicate, 3 mm; base not decurrent; margins plane, entire; apex slenderly long-acuminate; ecostate; basal laminal cells shorter than medial cells, golden brown; medial cells linear, 65–85 × 4–5 µm. Specialized asexual reproduction absent. Sporophytes unknown.
Habitat: Moist tundra, soil, granite, limestone, schist
Elevation: low to high elevations (0-1700 m)
Distribution
![V28 866-distribution-map.gif](/w/images/e/e2/V28_866-distribution-map.gif)
Greenland, N.W.T., Nunavut, Yukon, Alaska, Europe, Asia.
Discussion
Orthothecium rufescens, like O. chryseum, is large and robust with distinctly plicate leaves, but can be distinguished by the reddish color and slenderly acuminate leaves.
Selected References
None.