Ecological niche comparison and molecular phylogeny segregate the invasive moss species (Leucobryaceae, Bryophyta) from its closest relatives.

The delimitation of the invasive moss species from its closest relative, , has been long debated based on morphology. Previous molecular phylogenetic reconstructions based on the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacers (ITS) 1 and 2 showed that is split into an Old World and a New World lineage, but remained partly inconclusive concerning the relationships between these two clades and . Analyses of an extended ITS dataset displayed statistically supported incongruence between ITS1 and ITS2.