Fontinalis howellii, Bot. Gaz. 13: 200. 1888. -- Fontinalis antipyretica var. oregonensis [oreganense] Ren. & Card., Rev. Bryol. 15: 71. 1888. -- Fontinalis kindbergii Ren. & Card., Bot Gaz. 15: 58. 9A. 1890.

   Plants floating to submerged, in streamers to 50 cm long, somewhat glossy yellow- to golden-green, often with a reddish cast, tightly attached to substratum at extreme base and only sparsely branched above. Leaves erect to erect spreading, mostly rather distantly arranged but occasionally approximate to slightly imbricated especially on branches, only obscurely 3-ranked. Leaves on main axis, to 6.0 mm long, ovate with a moderately well defined acumen, about 3: 1, rather loosely conduplicate keeled with the keel straight in lateral view except near the base. Branch leaves to 4 mm long, narrowly lanceolate with a long acuminate apex, 4–6: 1, deeply concave to somewhat keeled. Margins plane throughout or subtubular inrolled at the apex of the branch leaves, entire throughout or with a few serrulations near apex, not decurrent. Median cells smooth, long rhomboidal to linear, with straight and thin lateral walls, 10–15 µm broad, to 10: 1. Alar cells not in a defined auricle, quadrate to short rectangular, somewhat inflated and thin walled in a well-demarcated patch. Apical cell of stem leaves markedly shorter than adjacent cells, often nearly isodiametric. Costa absent but with the extreme leaf base with an irregular central patch of multistratose lamina. Pseudoparaphyllia orbicular, tightly overarching the bud. Axillary hairs to 100 µm, 5–6 celled with two basal brown cells.

   Dioicous with male plants typically somewhat smaller than the females. Perichaetial leaves very broadly oval to suborbicular, to 3 mm long, strongly convolute around the capsule, truncate to rounded, often lacerate at apex. Seta to 0.5 mm long, erect, hidden among perichaetial leaves. Capsule brown, symmetric and erect, not distorted or sulcate. Urn oblong, to 2.5 mm, about 2: 1. Exothecial cells to 30 µm wide, 1–5: 1, not in regular rows. Operculum conic, about 1/4 as long as urn. Exostome teeth spirally incurled when dry or erect and united at their apices, narrowly lanceolate, about 10: 1, strongly papillose, often united at their apices. Endostome without a basal membrane, as long as the exostome with the segments linear, not keeled, appendiculate along the transverse bars so that the entire endostome resembles a trellis. Spores smooth to very lightly papillose, 15–18 µm.

   This is largely a plant of ponds and slow flowing streams in the coastal humid forest of western North America. It also occurs in humid forest of northeastern North America and similar sites in Europe. It is distinguished from other local members of the genus by the strong differentiation of the stem and branch leaves, and by the only loosely conduplicate leaves.

Vouchers: Alpine Co.: Red Lake Creek, Toiyabe National Forest, Norris 88134; Fresno Co.: Cedar Grove just below Zumwalt Meadows along South Fork Kings River, Kings Canyon National Park, Shevock 13739; Inyo Co.: Mulkey Meadow near Whitney Portal west of Lone Pine, Inyo National Forest, Norris 75598; Lake Co.: Tule Lake, Mt. Sanhedrin, Mendocino National Forest, Toren 5116 (CAS); Trinity Co.: Bee Creek along Onion Lake Road about 7 miles south of Onion Lake, Norris & Rivera 72548; Tuolumne Co.: Hull Creek Campground about 14 miles east of Long Barn, Stanislaus National Forest, Norris 78748.

Literature: Koch 1950a; Spjut 1971; Toren 1977.

Illustration References: Lawton 1971; Welch 1960.

No illustrations found in database.

Elevation by latitude plot for Fontinalis howellii
   in California