Polytrichum strictum is dioicous, with male and female reproductive structures produced separately by male and female gametophytes, which are haploid (1n).
 As in other Polytrichum species, the antheridia are borne terminally on male plants and swell and burst when mature, launching sperm into the air; in addition, they develop in splash cups, which further facilitate sperm dispersal by catching and harnessing the energy of rain drops.
 The lucky few sperm to land near the archegonia of a female plant (also borne terminally) use their two whiplash flagella to swim down the neck and into the venter, where one will fertilize the ovum.
Once fertilisation takes place, the zygote develops into the diploid (2n) sporophyte, which consists of a foot (embedded in the tissue of the gametophyte), a seta (or stalk), and a capsule.
 The capsule, which is covered by a dirty-white calyptra, matures after the seta elongates, at which point the calyptra is shed.
  Within the capsule, each sporoctye undergoes meiosis to produce four haploid (1n) spores; when these are mature, the operculum is projected and the spores are released through the peristome, which is joined by the epiphragm and ringed by 64 nematodontous teeth.
 When the proper conditions and substrate are available, the spores germinate into a filamentous protonema, from which the gametophytes emerge, completing the cycle.
Polytrichum strictum is dioicous, with male and female reproductive structures produced separately by male and female gametophytes, which are haploid (1n).  As in other Polytrichum species, the antheridia are borne terminally on male plants and swell and burst when mature, launching sperm into the air; in addition, they develop in splash cups, which further facilitate sperm dispersal by catching and harnessing the energy of rain drops.  The lucky few sperm to land near the archegonia of a female plant (also borne terminally) use their two whiplash flagella to swim down the neck and into the venter, where one will fertilize the ovum. Once fertilisation takes place, the zygote develops into the diploid (2n) sporophyte, which consists of a foot (embedded in the tissue of the gametophyte), a seta (or stalk), and a capsule.  The capsule, which is covered by a dirty-white calyptra, matures after the seta elongates, at which point the calyptra is shed.   Within the capsule, each sporoctye undergoes meiosis to produce four haploid (1n) spores; when these are mature, the operculum is projected and the spores are released through the peristome, which is joined by the epiphragm and ringed by 64 nematodontous teeth.  When the proper conditions and substrate are available, the spores germinate into a filamentous protonema, from which the gametophytes emerge, completing the cycle.
Polytrichum strictum