Ecology. Forested to mostly open Yungas and Tucuman-Bolivian montane; shaded to more commonly exposed sites, on soil and rocks, occasionally on steep banks. Elevation. 2300-2900 m. Distribution. Bolivia: Chuquisaca, La Paz, Santa Cruz. World range: Mexico, Central America, West Indies, tropical Andes, widespread in the Southern Hemisphere.

      Illustration.

      Ditrichum difficile is distinguished by the glossy green or yellowish-green, silky appearing plants, flexuose and loosely erect-spreading leaves sheathing only at the very base, elongate juxtacostal cells with entire walls, distal sheathing lamina cells elongate. In Bolivia this species is rather surprising infrequent compared with Colombia or Ecuador. Ditrichum rufescens (Hampe) Hampe is a synonym (cf. Seppelt 1982, Allen 1994; see general references); D. difficile exhibits a circum-Antarctica distribution pattern.

      Specimens. Chuquisaca: Churchill et al. 22906 (HSB, MO); Santa Cruz: Churchill et al. 23130 (BOLV, HSB, MO, USZ).