Zelometeorium patulum (Hedw.) Manuel

  • Authority

    Sharp, Aaron J., et al. 1994. The Moss Flora of Mexico. Part Two: Orthotrichales to Polytrichales. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 69 (2)

  • Family

    Meteoriaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Zelometeorium patulum (Hedw.) Manuel

  • Description

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    Species Description - Secondary stems up to 20 cm long; branches 5-15 mm long. Leaves of secondary stems loosely erect or rarely irregularly spreading, clasping at base, about 2-2.2 mm long, ovate-lanceolate, ending in a long, flexuose, capillary acumen; margins sometimes slightly recurved at base; costa 0.5-0.6 the leaf length; alar cells rarely differentiated. Branch leaves squarrose to squarrose-recurved, somewhat clasping at base, ovate, about 1.5-1.8 mm long, acuminate, generally capillary-pointed; costa 0.6-0.75 the leaf length; alar cells generally not differentiated. Capsules 1.7-1.8 mm long; operculum 0.7-1.1 mm long. Spores 18-22.5 µm.

  • Discussion

    Fig. 548

    Z. patulum (Hedw.) Man., J. Hattori Bot. Lab. 43: 118.1977 [1978].

    Hypnum patulum Hedw., Sp. Muse 279. 1801.

    Neckera patula (Hedw.) Schwaegr., Sp. Muse Suppl. 2(2): 43.1823.

    Meteorium diversifolium Besch., Mem. Soc. Sci. Nat. Cherbourg 16: 226. 1872.

    Meteoriopsis patula (Hedw.) Broth, in E. & P., Nat. Pfl. 1(3): 825. 1906.

    M. patula var. congesta Bartr., Contr. U. S. Natl. Herb. 26(3): 95. 1928.

    The branch leaves are crowded and variously squarrose. Broadly ovate and acuminate, they often end in a capillary tip. The costa is single; the cells are smooth; and the alar cells are scarcely differentiated.

    Bartram's Guatemalan record (1949b) of Meteoriopsis recurvifolia (Hornsch.) Broth. {Lundell 2733) needs confirmation. Manuel (1977e) did not include Guatemala in the range, as Zelometeorium recurvifolium (Hornsch.) Man., but Bartram's illustrations indeed show the leaf outlines of that species rather than Z. patulum. [It m ay be noted that Buck (1991, personal communication) does not believe that Z. patulum and Z. recurvifolium can be maintained as distinct.]

  • Distribution

    On twigs and branches of trees and shrubs at low to moderate elevations (150-1400 m alt.); Chiapas, Hidalgo, Oaxaca, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas, Veracruz.—Mexico to South America and the West Indies; Rorida (Dade Co.).

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