Lepidopilum diaphanum (Sw. ex Hedw.) Mitt.

  • Authority

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

  • Family

    Pilotrichaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Lepidopilum diaphanum (Sw. ex Hedw.) Mitt.

  • Description

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    Species Description - Plants medium-sized, in lustrous, pale-green to golden, lax, flat mats. Stems creeping, to ca. 4 cm long, the leaves mostly eroded, with ± erect, simple or sparingly branched branches, complanate-foliate; in cross-section with a single row of thin-walled mediumsized cells surrounding thin-to firm-walled cells, the outer ones somewhat smaller, central strand none; axillary hairs 2-celled, with a short brown basal cell and an elongate hyaline distal cell. Leaves scarcely contorted when dry, flaccid when moist, erect- to wide-spreading, ovate to oblong-ovate, 1.6-2.6 mm long, ± abruptly acuminate, asymmetric; margins sometimes bordered, especially above, by 3-5 rows of elongate, somewhat narrower cells, entire to serrulate above, entire below, plane; costa double, slender, ending near midleaf or somewhat below; cells long-hexagonal, thin-walled, 20-29 pm in width, somewhat narrower in the acumen; ± long-hexagonal below; alar cells not differentiated. Asexual propagula sometimes present on stems in axils of upper leaves, clustered, uniseriate, 6-8-celled, ca. 0.4 mm long, chlorophyllose. Apparently dioicous, inflorescences and sporophytes unknown.

  • Discussion

    3. Lepidopilum diaphanum (Hedw.) Mitt., J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 12: 382. 1869; Hypnum diaphanum Hedw., Sp. Muse. Frond. 243. 1801; Pterygophyllum diaphanum (Hedw.) Brid., Muscol. Recent. Suppl. 4: 150. 1819; Hookeria diaphana (Hedw.) Hook. & Grev., Edinburgh J. Sci. 2: 227. 1825. Plate 14, figures 1-5 Discussion. Lepidopilum diaphanum is characterized by its ovate to oblong-ovate leaves that are flaccid when moist. The leaves are weakly but distinctly bordered and the costa is slender and ends near midleaf. The most conspicuous feature of this moss is the very lax areolation. Indeed, among the West Indian Lepidopilum species, only L. polytrichoides and L. tortifolium have leaf cells as wide as those of L. diaphanum. However, L. polytrichoides is a much more robust plant with serrate leaf apices and L. tortifolium has a more conspicuous leaf border, strongly contorted leaves when dry, and short upper laminal cells. Lepidopilum diaphanum is rare in Jamaica. It is only known from a few localities and no collections made since 1908 have been seen. Although Crum and Bartram (1958: 54) reported L. diaphanum from Martinique, I have seen no specimens from there, and therefore consider this report in error.

  • Distribution

    Range. Guatemala, Costa Rica, Venezuela to Bolivia; Jamaica; growing on humus and rocks, in shaded habitats in humid forests, at 1000-2000 m.

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