Tortula pagorum (Milde) De Not.

  • Authority

    Sharp, Aaron J., et al. 1994. The Moss Flora of Mexico. Part One: Sphagnales to Bryales. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 69 (1): 1-452.

  • Family

    Pottiaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Tortula pagorum (Milde) De Not.

  • Description

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    Species Description - Plants small, 1-3(-5) mm high, scattered or in small, brownish-green tufts. Propagula borne at the tip of the stem and in axils of upper leaves, green, fusiform, ecostate, papillose, with an elongate terminal cell (or occasionally several cells). Leaves infolded and somewhat twisted when dry, erect-spreading when moist, 1-1.75 mm long, 0.5-0.75 mm wide, spatulate, obtuse, blunt, or emarginate; margins plane (or somewhat erect), crenulate; costa strong, yellow or red, rounded and smooth at back, excurrent into a conspicuously tapered, smooth, yellowish or hyaline hair point 1/5-1/2 the length of the leaf; upper cells 10-15 µm, quadrate to hexagonal, bulging, with about 4 papillae per cell, the outermost row of cells less papillose; basal cells rather abruptly differentiated, often with thickened cross-walls, usually extending slightly farther up the margin than near the costa. (Reportedly dioicous; sporophytes known only from Australia.)

  • Discussion

    Fig. 250

    T. pagorum (Milde) De Not., Atti Univ. Genova 1: 542. 1869.

    Barbula pagorum Milde, Bot. Zeitung 20: 459. 1862.

    The leaf margins are plane, and the dorsal surface of the costa is smooth and shiny. Those features, in addition to the leaflike propagula and pluripapillose leaf cells, give adequate differentiation from T. papillosa. Both species have similar distributions and often grow together, and they have a curious geographic similarity in the production of sporophytes; both of them are apparently fertile only in Australia and nearby areas. The leaflike propagula of T. chisosa are squarrose, costate, and smaller-celled. Also, in contrast to T. chisosa, T. pagorum has larger, unistratose leaf cells and a smooth costa and hair point.

    Distribution and Ecology: .

  • Distribution

    Occasional on bark of trees, rarely on rock; Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Distrito Federal, Durango, Hidalgo, Mexico, Nuevo Leon, Puebla, San Luis Potosi, Sonora, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas.—Mexico; Chile; eastern and southwestern United States; southern Europe; Japan; southern Africa; Australia and New Zealand.

    New Zealand Baja California Mexico North America| Chihuahua Mexico North America| Coahuila Mexico North America| Distrito Federal Brazil South America| México Mexico North America|