Larger Mouse-tail Moss - Isothecium alopecuroides

Isothecium myurum is distinctively pale or yellowish-green. It is usually fairly robust, with shoots commonly 2 to 6 cm long, but smaller forms occur. The plants are bushy, with the branches curving downwards. The branch leaves are typically 2 mm long, egg-shaped to elliptical, concave, appressed and overlapping, giving the branches a neatly cylindrical appearance. They do not alter much when dry. The leaf tip is broadly pointed to acute, not drawn out to a fine point, and only finely toothed. The single nerve extends above mid-leaf. Stem leaves are similar to the branch leaves, but a little larger, with a slightly longer tip. Capsules appear occasionally, and are elliptical to cylindrical, and erect. The lid is beaked.

Isothecium alopecuroides occurs in woodland, on stream banks and other sheltered places, most commonly on the lower part of tree trunks and on the roots. It also occurs on rocks and stones, especially where base-rich. It does not occur on the more acidic substrates often occupied by Isothecium myosuroides, though the two species sometimes grow near each other. It is mainly a lowland species, rarely ascending to moderate altitudes.

All year round.

Widespread and fairly frequent in Britain.

Status in Leicestershire and Rutland not known.