Daltonia longifolia Taylor

Authority

Buck, William R. 1998. Pleurocarpous mosses of the West Indies. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 82: 1-400.

Family

Daltoniaceae

Scientific Name

Daltonia longifolia Taylor

Description

Species Description - Plants small in ± lustrous, bright-green to golden, usually small tufts. Stems ± erect, to ca. 3 cm tall, usually ± 1 cm tall; in cross-section with 2-3 rows of medium-sized thick-walled cells (elongate in surface view) surrounding large thin-walled cells. Leaves spirally contorted when dry, ± erect when moist, lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, (1.5-)2.5-3.5 mm long, gradually sharp-acuminate, usually keeled along costa; margins bordered by elongate, firm-walled, often porose cells, ± confluent at apex or ending subpercurrently, (1-)2-3 cells wide above, 6-10(-15) cells wide at base, distantly serrulate above, subentire below, plane; costa single, ending ca. 4/5 the leaf length; upper cells oval or bluntly angled, ca. 2:1, firm-walled, not porose, becoming longer and rectangular below, at extreme base merging with border, often colored across insertion. Asexual propagula unknown. Autoicous and synoicous on same plant. Perichaetia small, inconspicuous, often numerous; leaves erect, few, pale, ovate-lanceolate, 0.55-0.7 mm long, gradually acute, not keeled; margins bordered by 1-2 rows of elongate cells, serrulate above, subentire below, plane; costa often none; cells rhomboidal above, rectangular below, colored across insertion. Setae elongate, roughened above, smooth below, reddish, (4-)8-12 mm long, twisted; capsules erect, ovoid-cylindric, 0.5-1.5 mm long; exothecial cells subquadrate, collen-chymatous except in 2-5 rows at mouth; annulus none; operculum conic-rostrate, the rostrum often pale; exostome teeth white and recurved when dry, yellow and erect when moist, spiculose throughout, on front surface with a ± straight to zig-zag median line, at back often perforate, scarcely or not trabeculate; endostome spiculose throughout, with a low basal membrane, segments erect dry or moist, slender, slightly keeled, not or very narrowly perforate, ca. as long as the teeth, cilia none. Spores spherical, finely papillose, 11-17 µm diam. Calyptrae mitrate, densely ciliate at base, the cilia uniseriate, naked, ± roughened above.

Discussion

Daltonia dussii Broth, in Urb., Symb. Antill. 3: 426. 1903. Discussion. Daltonia longifolia is characterized by plants with lanceolate leaves, spirally contorted when dry. The leaf margins are plane and the upper cells oval, scarcely more than twice as long as wide. The species is probably most closely related to D. brasiliensis Mitt. and D. aristata Geh. & Hampe of southern Brazil but differs in the longer, more strongly keeled leaves. Daltonia longifolia frequently grows intermixed with our other Antillean species, D. stenophylla, and is easily separated at a glance. Daltonia longifolia has spirally contorted, lanceolate leaves, whereas D. stenophylla has erect, ± linear leaves. Additionally, in D. longifolia the plane leaf margins and short upper laminal cells contrast sharply with the recurved margins and longer cells of D. stenophylla. Also, in D. longifolia the outer stem cells as seen in surface view are elongate (ca. 3-5:1), whereas in D. stenophylla they are subquadrate (ca. 1:1).

Distribution

Range. Mexico to Panama, Colombia and Venezuela to Bolivia; Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola (Haiti and Dominican Republic), Puerto Rico, Guadeloupe, Martinique; growing on twigs, tree trunks, leaves, fern fronds, and occasionally humus, in humid and cloud forests, at 1000-2000 m.

Mexico North America| Central America| Venezuela South America| Colombia South America| Brazil South America| Peru South America| Bolivia South America| Cuba South America| Jamaica South America| Haiti South America| Dominican Republic South America| Guadeloupe South America| Puerto Rico South America| Martinique South America|