Tetraplodon mnioides subsp. pallidus (I. Hagen) Kindberg

Plants 2-4 cm, light green or yellow-green. Leaves ovate, concave, 2-3.5 mm; margins entire or nearly so; apex acuminate; costa ending in subula; distal laminal cells hexagonal, 30µm. Sexual condition autoicous. Seta clear pale yellow to stramineous, 1-2 cm. Capsule not cleistocarpous, clear pale yellow to stramineous, long-ovate; hypophysis often narrower than urn, rarely broader; stomata confined to distal hypophysis; operculum bluntly conic. Calyptra conic-mitrate or cucullate. Spores 8 µm, smooth.

Capsules mature summer. Caribou or muskox dung; low to high elevations; Greenland; B.C., Nfld. and Labr., N.W.T., Nunavut, Yukon; Alaska; n Europe.

Tetraplodon pallidus and T. paradoxus often grow intermixed and can be distinguished by several characters (W. C. Steere 1977b). Tetraplodon pallidus has a large operculum that falls off exposing a broad, square-shaped mouth and well-developed, reflexed teeth, and its distal laminal cell walls are thin.