Herbertus pensilis (T.Taylor) Spruce

  • Authority

    Fulford, Margaret H. 1963. Manual of the leafy Hepaticae of Latin America--Part I. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 11: 1-172.

  • Family

    Herbertaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Herbertus pensilis (T.Taylor) Spruce

  • Description

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    Species Description - Plants long, slender, light yellowish-green to yellow-brown, in loose tufts, pendulous from trees; stems slender, to 30 cm or more long, with leaves mostly 1 mm wide, rarely branched, the branches mostly ventral, leafy. Rhizoids not seen. Line of leaf insertion transverse. Leaves very widely spreading, the bases imbricate, slightly asymmetric, long, rectangular, to 4 mm long, less than 1 mm wide at the base, bifid to one-half of their length; segments long, linear, acute to acuminate by one or two cells, entire, the vitta strong, three-fourths of the width of the base of the segment, extending to the tip of the segment; lamina long, with only occasional decurved cilia at the base, the vitta bifurcate at the sinus; leaf-cells thick-walled, the trigones occasionally distinct, thin-walled pits occasional, the cuticle coarsely verruculose. Underleaves as large as and like the leaves, squarrose when moist, symmetric. Plants dioicous. Male inflorescence terminal on the stem, but becoming intercalary, the bracts and bractcoles similar and like the leaves and underleaves, the lamina deeply concave; antheridia large, spherical, in pairs in the axils of both bracts and bracteoles. Female inflorescence with one subfloral innovation of unlimited growth, thus appearing to be on a short branch, the bracts and bracteoles similar, in three to five series, showing a gradual transition from leaves to the larger, innermost series, the lamina deeply folded, the margins incised to lacinate, the narrow segment-margins undulate. Perianth scarcely exserted, deeply folded below, divided to one-half of its length into three, bifid parts, the segments and the margins similar to the margins of the innermost bracts. Sporophyte not seen. Fig. 2, a-k.

  • Discussion

    Sendtnera pensilis T. Taylor, London Jour. Bot. 5: 372. 1846. Herbertia pensilis (T. Taylor) Trevisan, Mem. 1st. Lomb. III. 4: 397. 1877. Herberta costaricensis Stephani, Bull. Soc. Bot. Belg. 31: 178. 1893. Schisma costaricensis Stephani, Spec. Hep. 4: 16. 1909. Schisma angustifolium Stephani, Spec. Hep. 4: 17. 1909. Schisma commutatum Stephani, Spec. Hep. 4: 17. 1909. Schisma trabeculatum Stephani, Spec. Hep. 4: 18. 1909. Schisma columbiae Stephani, Spec. Hep. 6: 357. 1922. Herberta armitagei Pearson, Jour. Bot. London 60: 224. 1922. Herberta commutata (Stephani) Pearson, Jour. Bot. London 60: 225. 1922. Herberta angustifolia (Stephani) Herzog, Revue Bryol. Lichénol. 11: 24. 1938. Schisma setaceum Stephani ms. Icones Hep. Schisma, no. 40. Nomen nudum. The additional reports in the literature include Costa Rica (Herzog, 1938a; Pearson 1922) and Bolivia (Herzog, 1934b).

  • Distribution

    Habitat: On trees in forests.

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