Studies on Bryoxiphium .
Spores smooth, or nearly so.
1 mm. long. Mature spores have been found only once in North America, in a sporophyte collected in the Wisconsin Dells in July. The species occurs principally on undersides of moist, shaded, sandstone ledges and cliffs, which at times can be calcareous and often overhang streams, infrequently on bluffs and boulders of conglomerate, gneiss and quartzite, soil, and overturned tree bases. In spite of the specific epithet, the original collection of this distinctive moss was made in Iceland. Bryoxiphium can also be confused with another moss genus, Fissidens .