Fabronia macroblepharis Schwägr.

Authority

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

Family

Fabroniaceae

Scientific Name

Fabronia macroblepharis Schwägr.

Description

Species Description - Plants small and slender, gray-green, in silky, often lax mats. Stems creeping, to ca. 1.5 cm long, little-branched, fragile, easily broken on dissection; in cross-section 5-7 cells diam., all ± large, thin-walled, central strand none; paraphyllia none; pseudoparaphyllia foliose; axillary hairs with a single short brown basal cell and a single elongate hyaline distal cell. Stem and branch leaves similar, crowded or ± laxly placed, erect when dry, erect-spreading when moist, lanceolate to narrowly triangular, 0.5-0.6(-0.75) X 0.12-0.22 mm, gradually long-acuminate, not concave, not decurrent; margins dentate to ciliate in upper of leaf, the teeth usually of a single cell, multicellular in very long cilia, plane; costa single, short, ending ca. 1/4-1/3 the leaf length, sometimes longer; cells long-rhomboidal, 6-10:1, smooth, thin- to firm-walled, becoming thicker-walled in the acumen and occasionally shorter at the margins; alar cells quadrate, abruptly differentiated. Asexual propagula none. Autoicous. Perichaetia along stems, large, conspicuous; leaves sheathing, ovate-lanceolate, 0.85-1.1 mm long, gradually acuminate, strongly concave; margins irregularly dentate above, ± plane; costa absent or short and single, ending well below midleaf; cells long-rhomboidal, smooth, thin- to firm-walled; alar cells gradually differentiated, extending all across the insertion. Setae short, smooth, yellowish, erect, 2.5-4 mm long; capsules exserted, erect, symmetric, ovoid, 0.35-1 mm long; exothecial cells ± isodiametric, wavy-walled, becoming ± narrowly oblate with straight walls at mouth; annulus not differentiated; operculum high-umbonate; exostome teeth paired, triangular and blunt, brown, papillose-striolate throughout, on the front surface with a ± straight median line and large plates, not trabeculate at back. Spores spherical to oval, papillose, 10-17 µm diam. Calyptrae cucullate, naked, smooth.

Discussion

2. Fabronia macroblepharis Schwägr., Sp. Musc. Frond. Suppl. 3(1): 247a. 1828. Plate 80, figures 8-12 Fabronia jamaicensis Lorentz, Moosstudien 163. 1864. Fabronia wullschlaegelii Lorentz, Moosstudien 163. 1864. Discussion. Fabronia macroblepharis is characterized by appressed, lanceolate, gradually acuminate leaves. The leaf dentition extends to well below the midleaf. Also, the plants are a distinctive gray-green (particularly obvious under the microscope) rather than the clear, bright-green of most Fabroniae. Conceivably confused with F. ciliaris var. wrightii, F. macroblepharis is recognized by relatively narrower leaves, with longer leaf cells, and more prominent marginal teeth. Also, the very different perichaetial leaves are useful because most Fabronia specimens are fertile. The Brazilian type and other specimens from Brazil have very long cilia, sometimes longer than the lamina width. However, others from Brazil, and most Mexican and Antillean specimens, have somewhat shorter teeth. These shorter teeth presumably occur on plants in more exposed, drier habitats. One Dominican Republic specimen, from a humid habitat, has fairly well-developed laminal cilia.

Distribution

Range. Mexico to southern Brazil; Jamaica, Hispaniola (Dominican Republic); on tree trunks and old stumps, rarely rocks, in humid forests, at 1000-2000 m, however, throughout Mexico and Brazil primarily a lowland species.

Mexico North America| Central America| Colombia South America| Venezuela South America| Ecuador South America| Peru South America| Bolivia South America| Guyana South America| Suriname South America| French Guiana South America| Brazil South America| Jamaica South America| Dominican Republic South America|