Entosthodon rubiginosus

On a recent trip with the Kamloops Hiking Club we hiked through Painted Bluffs Provincial Park on the north side of Kamloops Lake – a surreal landscape of ridges and valleys devoid of vegetation with soils in various shades of greens and reds.

What surprised me was the presence of a small ephemeral stream with extensive deposits of white salts (calcium chloride?) deposited on the soil and rocks. The salty conditions of the site was evident by the lack of vegetation except  for a few salt-tolerant species like alkali saltgrass.

As we passed through the area, I noticed a fairly large patch of tiny rust-coloured moss on the soil surface. The red colour came from the profusion of small red capsules.

It turns out that this is a rare species of moss endemic to western North America. It has been given the common name, rusty cord-moss. It is one of about 20 species of mosses in Canada that have been assessed by COSEWIC (committee on the status of endangered wildlife in Canada). It was originally ranked as endangered but is now considered to be a species of special concern. 

It is found in seasonally damp, saline sites in arid and semi-arid environments. Existing populations in BC occur at White Lake in the Okanagan, Princeton, and Riske Creek. It has also been collected at Cooney Bay at the east end of Kamloops Lake in 1981 but has not been relocated since that time. More information can be found at the following link:  https://www.sararegistry.gc.ca/virtual_sara/files/cosewic/sr_Rusty%20Cord-moss_2017_e.pdf

The capsules are somewhat unusual in that, unlike most mosses, the opening lacks teeth or had small rudimentary nubs of teeth.

The individual plants are very small and consist of a few leaves that, when dry, fold inwards.

When moist, the leaves expand outwards and you can see the leaves have long narrow leaf tips with a single midrib and large rather flaccid leaf cells.