English name: Dotted thyme-moss
An acrocarpous moss with upright shoots and broadly elliptical to egg-shaped leaves that have a differentiated border of elongated cells and lack teeth. The nerve ends just below the tip. The stems are red or brown and tufts of rhizoids can be found in the leaf axils and the lower parts of shoots.
Capsules mature in late winter and spring.
In Scotland, Rhizomnium punctatum is widespread on damp or wet soil, rock, and rotting wood, in shaded, acidic to base-rich habitats. BBS distribution map
Confusion species: Mnium hornum and Plagiomnium rostratum
scottishlichens.co.uk 