Distribution and Ecology
Species of Buxbaumia may be found across much of the temperate to subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, as well as cooler regions of Australia and New Zealand.
The moss is an annual or biennial plant and grows in disturbed habitats or as a pioneer species. The plants grow on decaying wood, rock outcrops, or directly on the soil. They do not grow regularly or reliably at given locations, and frequently disappear from places where they have previously been found. Sporophyte stages begin their development in the autumn, and are green through the winter months. Spores are mature and ready for dispersal by the late spring or early summer. The spores are ejected from the capsule in puffs when raindrops fall upon the capsule's flattened top.
The asymmetric sporophytes of Buxbaumia aphylla develop so that the opening is oriented towards the strongest source of light, usually towards the south. The species often grows together with the diminutive liverwort Cephaloziella, which forms a blackish crust that is easier to spot than Buxbaumia itself.
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