Sematophyllum galipense (Müll.Hal.) Mitt.

Authority

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

Family

Sematophyllaceae

Scientific Name

Sematophyllum galipense (Müll.Hal.) Mitt.

Description

Species Description - Plants relatively robust, in ± lustrous, golden-green to greenish brown, often extensive, dense mats. Stems creeping, to ca. 5 cm long, freely but irregularly branched, the branches erect, short, straight, turgid; in cross-section with 2-4 rows of small thick-walled cells surrounding large thin-walled cells, central strand absent; pseudoparaphyllia foliose; axillary hairs with a single rectangular brown basal cell and (2-)3 elongate hyaline distal cells. Stem and branch leaves similar, erect, often imbricate, not at all homomallous, oblong-ovate to ovate, 1.5-2 mm long, mostly long-acuminate, very concave; margins entire, often reflexed near midleaf; costa short and double or absent; cells linear, straight, 5-15:1, smooth, firm-walled, sometimes porose, not shorter in the acumen; alar cells enlarged, sometimes inflated, colored across the insertion, the outer cells sometimes hyaline, oblong, mostly in a single row, sometimes with 2 rows in the extreme angles, 3-5 (-7) X as large as the largish quadrate cells above them. Asexual propagula none. Autoicous. Perichaetial leaves erect, lanceolate to narrowly triangular, 1.5-2 mm long, acuminate; margins entire to subentire, plane or recurved; costa mostly none; cells linear, smooth, thick-walled, somewhat porose, becoming rectangular, colored and slightly inflated across the insertion; alar cells not differentiated. Setae elongate, smooth, reddish, (0.7-) 1.5-3 cm long, curved just below the urn; capsules suberect to pendent, ± asymmetric, ovoid-cylindric, ca. 1 mm long, slightly constricted below the mouth when dry; exothecial cells subquadrate to short-rectangular, somewhat to strongly collenchymatous, becoming smaller, oblate, and evenly thin- to firm-walled in 2-4 rows at the mouth; annulus not differentiated; operculum long-rostrate, somewhat oblique, slightly shorter than the urn; exostome teeth triangular, strongly shouldered, strongly bordered, on the front surface with a zig-zag median line, cross-striolate below, coarsely papillose above, trabeculate at back; endostome with a high basal membrane, segments finely papillose, keeled, not perforate, almost as long as the teeth, cilia mostly in pairs, shorter than the segments. Spores spherical, finely papillose, 8-11 µm diam. Calyptrae cucullate, naked, smooth.

Discussion

5. Sematophyllum galipense (Müll. Hal.) Mitt., J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 12: 480. 1869; Hypnum galipense Müll. Hal., Bot. Zeitung (Berlin) 6: 780. 1848; Rhaphidostegium caespitosum subsp. galipense (Müll. Hal.) Besch., Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot. VI, 3: 248. 1876; Rhaphidostegium galipense (Müll. Hal.) Renauld & Cardot, Bull. Soc. Roy. Bot. Belgique 29(1): 183. 1890. Plate 149, figures 11-15 Hypnum dissolutum Sulk, Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 5: 289. 1861. Rhaphidostegium caespitosum subsp. megalodictyon Besch., Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot. VI, 3: 247. 1876. Rhaphidostegium caespitosum subsp. abbreviatum Schimp. ex Besch., Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot. VI, 3: 249. 1876. ? Rhaphidostegium caespitosum subsp. husnotii Schimp. ex Besch., Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot. VI, 3: 248. 1876. Aptychus impresso-cuspidatus Müll. Hal., Hedwigia 37: 258. 1898; Rhaphidostegium impresso-cuspidatum (Müll. Hal.) Paris, Index Bryol. Suppl. 296. 1900. Aptychus jamaicae Müll. Hal., Hedwigia 37: 258. 1898; Rhaphidostegium jamaicae (Müll. Hal.) Paris, Index Bryol. Suppl. 296. 1900. Rhaphidostegium dicranelloides Schimp. ex Duss, Énum. Musc. Antill. Franç. 2: 33. 1903, nom. nud. Rhaphidostichum guianense E. B. Bartram, Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 66: 228. 1939. Discussion. Sematophyllum galipense is another of the species that was placed in the synonymy of S. subpinnatum; however, it differs both morphologically and ecologically. The plants grow on rock or soil and have turgid, erect branches. The leaves are large, acuminate, and very concave. Only depauperate specimens, usually on wood, can be confused with S. adnatum. Even in these cases the larger alar cells, often in two rows in the extreme angles, will distinguish the species. When the plants are growing on wet rocks the leaves are broader than usual and both the alar cells and the supra-alar, quadrate cells are larger. In S. galipense the supra-alar cells are larger than in any other West Indian species of Sematophyllum and, once known, are very helpful in sorting out otherwise confusing collections.

Distribution

Range. Mexico, Central America, northern South America, tropical Africa; Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola (Haiti and Dominican Republic), Mona Island, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands (St. John, St. Thomas, Tortola), St. Kitts, Nevis, Antigua, Montserrat, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, St. Lucia, St. Vincent; growing on rock and soil, rarely wood, in mostly exposed but humid habitats, such as along streams, from near sea level to ca. 1500 m.

Mexico North America| Central America| Brazil South America| Colombia South America| French Guiana South America| Ecuador South America| Guyana South America| Peru South America| Suriname South America| Venezuela South America| Africa| Cuba South America| Jamaica South America| Dominican Republic South America| Haiti South America| Puerto Rico South America| Virgin Islands South America| Saint Kitts and Nevis South America| Antigua and Barbuda 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|