Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 7, 2026

Oedipodium

Oedipodium is the only genus of moss in the family Oedipodiaceae. It contains the single species Oedipodium griffithianum, the gouty-moss or Griffith's oedipodium moss. This species is distributed in cooler climates of Eurasia, as well as from Alaska, Washington state, British Columbia, Yukon, Greenland, Newfoundland, Tierra del Fuego and the Falkland Islands.

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Jul 7, 2026
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Oedipodium
Oedipodium griffithianum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Embryophytes
Division: Bryophyta
Class: Polytrichopsida
Goffinet & W.R.Buck3
Order: Oedipodiales
Goffinet & W.R.Buck3
Family: Oedipodiaceae
Schimp.2
Genus: Oedipodium
Schwägr.1
Species:
O. griffithianum
Binomial name
Oedipodium griffithianum
(Dickson) Schwägr.1
Synonyms4
  • Bryum griffithianum Dickson
  • Gymnostomum griffithianum (Dickson) Smith
  • Hymenostomum griffithianum (Dicks.) Spreng.
  • Bryum bulbiforme Broth.
  • Gymnomitriella laevifoliaSakurai
  • Splachnum froehlichianum With.
  • Splachnum succulentum Brid.

Oedipodium is the only genus of moss in the family Oedipodiaceae. It contains the single species Oedipodium griffithianum, the gouty-moss5 or Griffith's oedipodium moss.6 This species is distributed in cooler climates of Eurasia, as well as from Alaska, Washington state, British Columbia, Yukon, Greenland, Newfoundland, Tierra del Fuego and the Falkland Islands.7

The relationship of Oedipodium to other mosses has been much debated. Previously, the taxon has been included with the Funariales or the Splachnales. However, characteristics of the protonemata and asexual propagation, along with molecular evidence, point to a closer relationship with the Tetraphidaceae.7

order Oedipodiales
familyOedipodiaceae
Oedipodium
The phylogenetic position of Oedipodium among the eight classes of mosses, based on inferences from DNA sequence data.83
References

References

  1. Schwägrichen, Christian Friedrich (1823). Species Muscorum frondosorum. Vol. Supplementum 2 (1, 1). p. 15.
  2. Schimper, Wilhelm Philippe (1876). Synopsis Muscorum Europaea. Vol. XCVIII (2nd ed.). Stuttgart. p. 354.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. Goffinet, Bernard; William R. Buck (2004). "Systematics of the Bryophyta (Mosses): From molecules to a revised classification". Monographs in Systematic Botany. Molecular Systematics of Bryophytes. 98. Missouri Botanical Garden Press: 205–239. ISBN 1-930723-38-5.
  4. Tropicos, Oedipodium griffithianum
  5. Edwards, Sean R. (2012). English Names for British Bryophytes. British Bryological Society Special Volume. Vol. 5 (4 ed.). Wootton, Northampton: British Bryological Society. ISBN 978-0-9561310-2-7. ISSN 0268-8034. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  6. NRCS. "Oedipodium griffithianum halleriana". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  7. Crum, Howard A. (2002). "Oedipodiaceae". Flora of North America. Vol. 27. pp. 116–117. ISBN 978-0-19-531823-4.
  8. Goffinet, B.; W. R. Buck & A. J. Shaw (2008). "Morphology and Classification of the Bryophyta". In Bernard Goffinet & A. Jonathan Shaw (eds.). Bryophyte Biology (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 55–138. ISBN 9780521872256.