Plagiopus oederiana
Common names
Oeder’s apple-moss
Biostatus
Native
Category
Non-vascular
Structural class
Mosses
Detailed description
Plants in dense, dull green to yellowish-brown tufts up to 10 cm tall; stems ± covered with brown rhizoids, triangular in cross-section; leaves linear-lanceolate, acute, keeled, 2–5 mm long, erect to spreading when moist, somewhat crisped and contorted when dry; margins unistratose, recurved, coarsely serrate above, smooth below; costa single, percurrent, toothed near the apex on dorsal side; upper median cells quadrate to rectangular, cuticle irregularly roughened in longitudinal lines or ridges appearing as minutely plurepapillose; basal cells longer and smooth. Synoicous; paraphyses numerous; seta straight, 7–18 mm long; capsules ± globose, brown to reddish-brown, zygomorphic, suberect to inclined, strongly ribbed when dry; peristome teeth double, endostome yellow, exostome dark brown; spores coarsely papillose, globose to ellipsoidal, 15–27µm
Distribution
Indigenous. New Zealand: South Island (North-West Nelson, in the Owen Range (Kahurangi National Park)). Also Europe, the Caucasus, Asia, Japan China, Greenland, Hawaii, and eastern North America. In the Pacific Northwestern North America it is known from Alaska, Canadian Arctic, Washington, Oregon, and Colorado
Habitat
Saxicolous. Found on shaded or wet calcareous rocks in montane, subalpine and alpine areas especially common on cliffs and on rocks in crevices and vertical faces.
Substrate details
Saxicolous on damp marble and rendzine soils in the alpine zone.
Current conservation status
This is the first complete assessment of all known species of mosses found in the wild in Aotearoa New Zealand with a total of 560 species being assessed. The conservation status of mosses, published in the NZTCS database, replaces all previous assessments of mosses. Data supporting the 2025 NZTCS assessment of mosses has been published on the NZTCS database at https://nztcs.org.nz/reports/1155.
Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2025 | Data Deficient | Qualifiers: OL, S?O
Threats
Known from very few sites and even fewer plants. Threatened mainly by the small population size and area of occupancy than by any other more direct human-induced threat(s).
Detailed taxonomy
Genus
Family
Synonyms
Bartramia oederiana Sw.
Endemic taxon
No
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Other information
Previous conservation statuses
This is the first complete assessment of all known species of mosses found in the wild in Aotearoa New Zealand with a total of 560 species being assessed. The conservation status of mosses, published in the NZTCS database, replaces all previous assessments of mosses. Data supporting the 2025 NZTCS assessment of mosses has been published on the NZTCS database at https://nztcs.org.nz/reports/1155.
Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2014 | Threatened – Nationally Critical | Qualifiers: OL, S?O
2009 | Threatened – Nationally Critical | Qualifiers: OL, ?SO
2004 | Threatened – Nationally Critical
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Ireland, R. 1982: Moss Flora of the Maritime Provinces. National Museum of Natural Sciences. National Museum of Natural Sciences. Publications in Botany, No. 13. Ottawa. Canada. 738 pp.
Fact Sheet Prepared for NZPCN by: P.J. de Lange (8 November 2006). Description adapted from (Ireland 1982).