Pogonatum comosum (Müll.Hal.) Mitt.

  • 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

    Polytrichaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Pogonatum comosum (Müll.Hal.) Mitt.

  • Description

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    Species Description - Plants medium-sized, in loose tufts. Stems simple or continuing by subfloral innovation, (2.5-)4-5(-6) cm tall, densely leafy above, bracteate below. Leaves erect, tubulose, often somewhat secund when dry, flat and laxly spreadingrecurved when moist, the sheath elliptic, with sloping shoulders, 1.5-2 mm long, 1.5-1.8 mm wide, entire to denticulate in the upper part; limb lanceolate, broadest at or slightly above the middle, 5-6 mm long, 1.2 mm wide, marginal lamina erect, 2-3 cells wide, closely serrate; band of thin-walled cells between the dorsal and ventral cells extending the full width of the lamina in section; lamellae dentate in profile, 4-5 cells high, with marginal cells in section flask-shaped, in pairs, each cell terminating in a knob, 16-20 µm tall, the pairs 16 µm wide; sheath cells rectangular, 45-60 µm long, 13-16 µm wide. Dioicous. Perichaetial leaves not strongly differentiated. Setae slender, 2-3 cm long; capsules cylindric, slightly arcuate, inclined, 5-6 mm long, 0.8-1 mm in diameter; exothecial cells longitudinally elongate, 60-80 µm long, 16-23(-33) µm wide, the papilla, ifpresent, in the upper end, overlapping the cell next above; operculum short-beaked; peristome teeth 32, double, orange. Spores 13 µm, finely papillose.

  • Discussion

    Fig. 808

    P. comosum (C. Müll.) Mitt., J. Linn. Soc, Bot. 12: 614. 1869.

    Polytrichum comosum C. Müll., Syn. Muse Frond. 2: 561. 1851.

    Pogonatum bescherellei Hampe ex Besch., Mem. Soc. Sci. Nat. Cherbourg 16: 207. 1872.

    Polytrichum sartorii C. Müll., Linnaea 38: 621. 1874.

    P. leptopelmaC. Mull., Bull. Herb. Boissier 5: 178. 1897.

    Pogonatum hirtellum Kelly, Bryologist 44: 94. 1941.

    In habit and in the tall, flask-shaped marginal cells ofthe lamellae, many ofthe collections referred here to P. comosum resemble the East Asian P. microstomum (R. Br. ex Schwaegr.) Brid. and may, in fact, be that species. Menzel (1985) included P. barnesii and P. comosum in P. campylocarpum (C. Müll.) Mitt., a species of Central and South America not recorded from Mexico. The latter species typically has teeth on the leaf shoulder and a distinctive, short-arcuate capsule. I agree with Hyvonen (1989a) in recognizing P. campylocarpum as distinct from P. comosum. The name P. comosum was once mistakenly applied to Polytrichastrum tenellum (see G. L. Smith, 1975).

  • Distribution

    Baja California Sur, Chiapas, Durango, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Mexico, Michoacan, Tamaulipas, Veracruz.—Mexico; Central America.

    Mexico North America| Central America|