Lepidopilum polytrichoides (Hedw.) Brid.

Authority

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

Family

Pilotrichaceae

Scientific Name

Lepidopilum polytrichoides (Hedw.) Brid.

Description

Species Description - Plants relatively robust, in lustrous, green to golden, lax tufts. Primary stems creeping, to ca. 10 cm long, the leaves mostly eroded, with erect, simple or sparingly branched primary branches, to ca. 15 cm, usually tapering at apex, complanate-foliate; in crosssection with the hyalodermis ± differentiated, the cells mostly large and ± quadrate, over 5-8 rows of small firm-walled cells surrounding numerous larger thin-walled cells, central strand none; axillary hairs 2-celled, with a short brown basal cell and an elongate hyaline distal cell. Leaves contorted when dry, ± flat when moist (and branches more conspicuously complanate-foliate), distant, lateral leaves erect- to wide-spreading, asymmetric, ovate to oblong-ovate, dorsal leaves erect, ± symmetric, broadly oblong-ovate, shorter and more abruptly acuminate than lateral leaves, all to 8.5 mm long, mostly 3.5-5 mm long, becoming shorter toward branch apices, gradually to ± abruptly short- to long-acuminate, sometimes ± piliferous; margins bordered, sometimes obscurely so, by 2-4 rows of elongate, narrow cells, serrate above, subentire below, plane above, plane or narrowly recurved below; costa double, stout at base but slender above, ending 1/3(-1/2) the leaf length; cells hexagonal to long-hexagonal above, 2-5:1, ca. 20 µm wide, thin- to firm-walled, becoming longer in the acumen and ± rectangular below; alar cells not differentiated. Asexual propagula not seen. Autoicous or synoicous (? or dioicous). Perichaetia small, inconspicuous, often common along erect primary branches, in leaf axils; leaves pale, ± erect with flexuose apices, narrowly to broadly oblong-ovate, (0.85-) 1.2-1.85 mm long, abruptly long-acuminate; margins bordered by 1(-2) rows of narrow cells, conspicuous only at leaf shoulder, serrulate in the acumen, entire below, plane; costa none; cells long-hexagonal to linear in the acumen, long-hexagonal in leaf base, thin-walled. Setae short, erect, coarsely papillose above or sometimes to base, usually smooth below, reddish, 3-4 mm long; capsules erect, cylindric, yellowish with a reddish ring around the mouth, 1-2 mm long; exothecial cells rounded short-rectangular, firm- to thick-walled, collenchymatous; annulus ± differentiated, of a single row of oblate, smallish, firm-walled, tardily deciduous cells; operculum high-conic, ± short-rostrate; exostome teeth recurved when dry, strongly bordered, on the front surface pale, densely and finely papillose throughout, often with papillae in horizontal rows below and oblique rows toward midtooth, reddish at back, slightly trabeculate; endostome densely and finely papillose throughout, with a low basal membrane, segments erect, narrowly triangular, not or only somewhat keeled at apex, not perforate, cilia none or often rudimentary, ± equilateral triangular, 1-celled. Spores spherical, finely papillose, 11-17 µm diam. Calyptrae mitrate, covering operculum and ca. 1/2 of urn, irregularly and shallowly lobed at base, ornamented with hyaline, uniseriate hairs and 2-4-seriate ramenta, scabrous.

Discussion

1. Lepidopilum polytrichoides (Hedw.) Brid., Bryol. Univ. 2: 269. 1827; Hypnum polytrichoides Hedw., Sp. Musc. Frond. 244. 1801; Orthotrichum polytrichoides (Hedw.) Brid., Muscol. Recent. 2(2): 31. 1801; Neckera polytrichoides (Hedw.) Sw., Fl. Ind. Occ. 3: 1794. 1806; Pilotrichum polytrichoides (Hedw.) Brid., Muscol. Recent. Suppl. 4: 140. 1819; Daltonia polytrichoides (Hedw.) Arn., Mém. Soc. Hist. Nat. Paris 2: 303. 1826; Hookeria polytrichoides (Hedw.) Spreng., Syst. Veg. 4: 197. 1827. Bryum Polla binervis Brid., Bryol. Univ. 1: 856. 1826; Polla binervis (Brid.) Brid., Bryol. Univ. 2: 817. 1827, comb. inval.; Lepidopilum marginans Müll. Hal., Bot. Zeitung (Berlin) 5: 829. 1847, non L. binerve Brid., Bryol. Univ. 2: 269. 1827 [= Callicostella scabriseta (Hook.) A. Jaeger]. Lepidopilum polytrichoides var. pellucens Besch., Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot. VI, 3: 231. 1876. Discussion. Lepidopilum polytrichoides is characterized by its robust stature with distant leaves contorted when dry. The leaves are large, ovate, and serrate with a costa ending below midleaf. The cells are large and broad, narrowing toward the margin to form a poorly differentiated border (in comparison to that of Cyclodictyon). The large size and serrate leaves will readily separate L. polytrichoides from any other Antillean Lepidopilum.

Distribution

Range. Questionably in Florida, Mexico to Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Surinam, French Guiana, Trinidad, Brazil; Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola (Haiti and Dominican Republic), Puerto Rico, Montserrat, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Grenada; usually growing on tree trunks and twigs, occasionally rocks, in very humid forests, often near streams, at 150-1000 m.

United States of America North America| Mexico North America| Central America| Colombia South America| Venezuela South America| Ecuador South America| Peru South America| Suriname South America| French Guiana South America| Trinidad and Tobago South America| Brazil South America| Cuba South America| Jamaica South America| Haiti South America| Dominican Republic South America| Puerto Rico South America| Montserrat South America| Guadeloupe South America| Dominica South America| Martinique South America| Saint Lucia South America| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines South America| Grenada South America|