Pleurozium Schreberi Big Red Stem
Latin pleuro, ribs (refers to the branching pattern); Schreberi, named in honor of J. C. Schreber (1739-1810), a German botanist
Pleurozium
Schreberi is one of the most common mosses in the boreal forest. From
Plants of the Western Boreal Forest: "The spore capsules of big red stem
are rarely found, so sexual reproduction seems to be rare (possibly because
of a lack of male plants), and there is no known mechanism of vegetative
reproduction (other than stem fragmentation). It is interesting to speculate
how a plant with almost no means of reproduction could become so common
and widespread all around the world." Note: Schofield (1992, pg 218) says
the sporophytes are occasional to locally abundant.