Fissidens asplenioides |
Fissidens santa-clarensis |
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asplenium fissidens moss |
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Habit | Plants to 250 × 4 mm. | Plants to 7.5 × 1.5–2.5 mm. |
Stem | unbranched and sparingly branched; axillary hyaline nodules weak; central strand present. |
unbranched and branched; axillary hyaline nodules absent; central strand present or absent. |
Leaves | in as many as 25 pairs, often undulate, mostly lingulate, rounded to obtuse to broadly acute, sometimes apiculate, to 4 × 0.5 mm; dorsal lamina narrowed proximally, ending before or at insertion, not decurrent; vaginant laminae 1/2–3/4 the leaf length, unequal, minor lamina of most leaves rounded and free distally, or narrowed distally and ending on or near costa; margin ± entire to crenulate-serrulate, sometimes unevenly so distally, elimbate except for a weak limbidium in the proximal parts of vaginant laminae, limbidial cells 1-stratose; costa ending several cells before apex, oblongifolius-type, distal part of leaf in transverse section showing enlarged cells arranged in a single row; laminal cells of dorsal and ventral laminae 1-stratose, distinct, smooth, lenticularly thickened but appearing bulging, firm-walled, irregularly hexagonal, 7–12 µm long; juxtacostal and interior proximal cells of vaginant laminae 1-stratose, smooth, plane, quadrate to ± oblong, larger; medial marginal cells of vaginant laminae ± elongate, oriented obliquely. |
as many as 25 pairs, often undulate, oblong-lingulate, abruptly narrowed to rounded-obtuse apex, 1.2–2 × 0.3–0.4 mm; dorsal lamina narrowed proximally, rounded, ending a short distance before insertion; vaginant laminae 1/2–2/3 the leaf length, acute, ± unequal, minor lamina ending near margin; margin crenulate, elimbate; costa ending 4–10 cells before apex, oblongifolius-type, distal part of leaf in transverse section showing 4 enlarged cells arranged in 2 rows; laminal cells in dorsal and ventral laminae 1-stratose, distinct, lenticularly thickened but appearing mammillose, firm-walled, irregularly hexagonal, 6–9 µm, juxtacostal and interior cells of vaginant laminae 1-stratose, smooth, plane, larger; medial marginal cells of vaginant laminae not differing perceptively from interior cells. |
Seta | to 6 mm. |
to 4.5 mm. |
Sexual condition | dioicous; perigonia and perichaetia on elongate stems; naked archegonia at times in axils of distal leaves. |
cladautoicous; perigonia and perichaetia on main stems and branches. |
Capsule | theca ± erect, radially symmetric to slightly arcuate, bilaterally symmetric, to 1.5 mm; peristome taxifolius-type; operculum ± as long as theca. |
theca erect, radially symmetric, 0.3–1 mm; peristome similiretis-type; operculum 0.5–0.6 mm. |
Calyptra | cucullate, smooth, 1–1.7 µm. Spores 7.5–12 µm. |
0.7–0.8 mm. |
Spores | 11–15 µm. |
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Sporophytes | 1–2 per perichaetium, orange-red. |
1 per perichaetium. |
Fissidens asplenioides |
Fissidens santa-clarensis |
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Habitat | Sandstone ledges and crevices in moist ravines and grottoes, usually along streams and waterfalls | Rotten wood, bark of living trees, particularly around the base, moist soil, and limestone |
Distribution |
AL; GA; KY; LA; MS; NC; SC; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies; Asia; Africa; Atlantic Islands (Macaronesia); Pacific Islands (New Zealand); Australia |
FL; Mexico; Central America; West Indies |
Discussion | Fissidens asplenioides, usually a robust species, is recognized by leaves typically curled tightly inward from the tips when dry, a minor lamina that in most leaves is rounded distally and attached more or less only along costa, lenticularly thickened dorsal and ventral laminal cells, elongate medial marginal cells of the vaginant laminae oriented obliquely, and oblongifolius-type costa which in the distal part of the leaf in transverse section shows a single row of enlarged cells. The oblongifolius-type costa, found in F. asplenioides and F. santa-clarensis, is unique to sect. Amblyothallia of subg. Pachyfissidens (R. A. Pursell and M. A. Bruggeman-Nannenga 2004). Subterranean, multicellular, irregularly globose, rhizoidal gemmae have been reported in Macaronesian specimens of F. asplenioides. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Fissidens santa-clarensis, named for a province in Cuba, is restricted in the United States to peninsular Florida (Citrus, Collier, Dade, Levy, Manatee, Marion, Monroe, Polk, and Sumter counties). The species can be recognized by its abruptly narrowed, rounded-obtuse leaf apex, lenticularly-thickened dorsal and ventral laminal cells, short oblongifolius-type costa that in transverse section of the distal part shows four enlarged cells arranged in two rows, and similiretis-type of peristome. Collections of F. santa-clarensis were long assigned by American authors to F. radicans Montagne, a closely related species with caducous leaves, a broadly acute to rounded leaf apex, and an anomalous peristome with teeth undivided or irregularly divided. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 27, p. 337. | FNA vol. 27, p. 338. |
Parent taxa | Fissidentaceae > Fissidens | Fissidentaceae > Fissidens |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | F. allenianus | |
Name authority | Hedwig: Sp. Musc. Frond., 156. (1801) | Thériot: Mem. Soc. Cub. Hist. Nat. “Felipe Poey” 13: 209, plate 32, fig. 1. (1939) |
Web links |