Plantae>Magnoliophyta>Magnoliopsida>Diapensiales>Diapensiaceae>Pyxidanthera brevifolia B.W. Wells
![]() | A rare minute creeping subshrub of xeric areas in the Sandhills region of North Carolina. This is the smaller of our two species of pyxie-moss. Very range-restricted, the entire known range of this species is a handful of counties in North and South Carolina. The other species, Pyxidanthera barbulata, which is more wide-ranging and typically occurs in moist habitats, has leaves about twice as long. Moore Co., NC 3/14/07. |
![]() | Also called Littleleaf Pixiemoss, Wells's Pyxie-moss, Little Pyxie, and Dwarf pyxie moss. Listed in Radford as Pyxidanthera barbulata Michx. var. brevifolia (Wells) Ahles. Moore Co., NC 3/14/07. |
![]() | Flower buds, with some real moss in the lower right of the photo. Moore Co., NC 3/14/07. |
![]() | The tiny succulent evergreen leaves are less than 5 mm long. Hairs generally cover at least the basal half of the leaves. Moore Co., NC 3/14/07. |
![]() | Typical Sandhills Pyxie-moss habit and habitat. Moore Co., NC 3/14/07. |
![]() | Flower detail. The flowers rarely set seed and the seeds rarely sprout. Moore Co., NC 3/14/07. |
![]() | Intersection of two different clones of pyxie-moss. The flowering one on the right has hairless leaves; the non-flowering one at left has pale-hairy leaves. Moore Co., NC 3/22/07. |
More information:
Flora of North America
NC Native Plant Society
USDA PLANTS database
All photographs and text ©2011 by Will Cook unless otherwise indicated.