Cephaloziella hampeana

Description

Confident field identification of Cephaloziella is often impossible, but careful collection of fertile plants (look for perianths) will aid identification under a microscope. Most threadworts encountered are either C. divaricata or one of the trio of C. hampeana, C. rubella and C. stellulifera. Sometimes it can be clear through a hand lens that plants of C. hampeana growing through living Sphagnum have male and female branches connected; locating swollen male bracts under female inflorescences in C. rubella and C. stellulifera is more difficult. Shoots of these species are typically less than 0.5 mm wide, and leaves are up to 0.3 mm long. Generally, C. stellulifera is slightly larger than C. rubella and its bracts and lobes often bend back from the stem.Gemmae are frequent in all three species.