Codriophorus acicularis(Hedw.) P.Beauv.

racomitrium moss

WFO wfo-0001180757 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Codriophorus acicularis, photographed by Randal
fig. a Randal, CC0 1.0 / 2022-06-10 / obs. 205169309
Codriophorus acicularis, photographed by Rafael Medina
fig. b Rafael Medina, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 204507893
Codriophorus acicularis, photographed by Roger Rittmaster
fig. c Roger Rittmaster, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 119866230
Codriophorus acicularis, photographed by Carminda Santos
fig. d Carminda Santos, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 112028246
Codriophorus acicularis, photographed by Carminda Santos
fig. e Carminda Santos, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 109757629
Codriophorus acicularis, photographed by Carminda Santos
fig. f Carminda Santos, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 106204520
Codriophorus acicularis, photographed by Susan Marley
fig. g Susan Marley, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 105413191
Codriophorus acicularis, photographed by Susan Marley
fig. h Susan Marley, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 105410510

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Where it actually grows measured, from 357 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -8.0 °C 0.0 °C 3.6 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 15.6 °C 18.9 °C 24.9 °C
Annual rainfall 854 mm 1,714 mm 3,915 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 123 mm 262 mm 429 mm

It is found where winters bring hard frost. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 357 research-grade observations of Codriophorus acicularis that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one.

Also published as 23 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Bryum aciculare (Hedw.) L. ex Funck
  • Campylopus acicularis (Hedw.) Wahlenb.
  • Dicranum aciculare Hedw.
  • Dicranum aciculare var. fluitans Turner
  • Dryptodon acicularis (Hedw.) Fürnr.
  • Grimmia acicularis (Hedw.) Müll.Hal.
  • Grimmia acicularis var. denticulata (Bruch & Schimp.) Braithw.
  • Grimmia acicularis var. radiculosum (Guim.) Guim.
  • Grimmia nevii Müll.Hal.
  • Orthotrichum submarginatum Brid.
  • Racomitrium aciculare (Hedw.) Brid.
  • Racomitrium aciculare f. falcatum Jaap ex Loeske
  • Racomitrium aciculare f. fluviatile Vilh.
  • Racomitrium aciculare f. humile Vilh.
  • Racomitrium aciculare var. angustifolium Höhn.
  • Racomitrium aciculare var. angustifolium Röll
  • Racomitrium aciculare var. aquaticum Poech
  • Racomitrium aciculare var. denticulatum Bruch & Schimp.
  • Racomitrium aciculare var. falcatum Grav. ex Warnst.
  • Racomitrium aciculare var. nevii (Müll.Hal.) Frye
  • Racomitrium aciculare var. radiculosum Guim.
  • Racomitrium nevii (Müll.Hal.) Rau & Herv.
  • Trichostomum aciculare (Hedw.) P.Beauv.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. USDA PLANTS Database. common name, checklist symbol RAAC4. public domain. Retrieved 2026-07-13.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite. It has no native range either: Kew's checklist does not cover this taxon.