Fissidens elegans |
Fissidens aphelotaxifolius |
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elegant fissidens moss |
fissidens moss |
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Habit | Plants to 5.5 × 2 mm. | Plants to 17 × 2–3 mm. |
Stem | unbranched and branched; axillary hyaline nodules absent; central strand weak. |
branched; axillary hyaline nodules absent; central strand present. |
Leaves | as many as 12 pairs, oblong to lanceolate, acute to obtuse-apiculate, most ending in a clear, sharp cell, to 1.8 × 0.4 mm; dorsal lamina narrowed or rounded proximally, ending at or before insertion, not decurrent; vaginant laminae 1/2–2/3 leaf length, unequal, minor lamina ending near margin; margin serrulate, limbate and entire to remotely denticulate on proximal 2/3 or less of vaginant laminae of most leaves of perichaetial stems, often absent from leaves of infertile stems, limbidium intralaminal in part or completely, limbidial cells 1-stratose; costa ending 2–4 cells before apex or percurrent, ending in apiculus, infrequently short-excurrent, bryoides-type; lamina cells 1-stratose, pluripapillose, obscure, firm-walled, rounded-hexagonal, 5–8 µm, twice as deep as wide. |
as many as 20 pairs, lorate to lanceolate, acute to rounded, apiculate, to 2.35 × 0.35–0.65 mm; dorsal lamina usually rounded proximally, ending at insertion, sometimes ending before insertion or slightly decurrent; vaginant laminae 1/2 leaf length, ± equal, minor lamina ending on or near margin; margin mostly crenulate on dorsal and ventral laminae, mostly serrulate on vaginant laminae and distally, elimbate; costa variable in length, even on same plant, excurrent into apiculus to ending several cells before apex, taxifolius-type; lamina cells 1-stratose, distinct, smooth, slightly bulging, firm-walled, quadrate to irregularly hexagonal, 6–15 µm, somewhat larger justacostally, marginal row thinner, paler. |
Seta | to 5 mm. |
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Sexual condition | rhizautoicous and gonioautoicous. |
dioicous(?); perigonia unknown; perichaetia on short proximal stems and axillary in proximal leaves. |
Capsule | theca exserted, erect, radially symmetric, to 0.8 mm; peristome scariosus-type; operculum to 0.5 mm. |
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Calyptra | cucullate, smooth, to 0.6 mm. |
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Spores | 9–13 µm. |
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Sporophytes | 1 per perichaetium. |
, calyptra, and spores not known. |
Fissidens elegans |
Fissidens aphelotaxifolius |
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Habitat | Sandy and clayey soils along roadsides and streams, banks of ravines, bluffs, loess banks, uprooted tree roots, trunks of trees, decaying stumps, sandstone | Wet soil, humus, and rocks along streams, near waterfalls, in damp or wet crevices of cliffs |
Distribution |
AL; AR; FL; GA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MO; MS; OH; OK; SC; TN; TX; VA; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies
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CA; OR; WA; BC |
Discussion | The obscure, pluripapillose lamina cells and leaf apex that terminates in a single, hyaline, sharply pointed cell distinguish Fissidens elegans. The limbidium is quite variable, occurring on the vaginant laminae of most leaves of perichaetial stems to being absent from the leaves of infertile stems. The species is close to F. pallidinervis (see discussion under 26). H. A. Crum and L.E. Anderson (1981) commented on a collection that was possibly made in Lafayette, Wisconsin, a site quite distant from the normal distribution of this species in North America. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Fissidens aphelotaxifolius can be confused with F. taxifolius but is best distinguished by its smooth and slightly bulging laminal cells, distinct from the conspicuously mammillose cells in the ventral laminae of the F. taxifolius. Moreover, the plants tend to be smaller and leaf apex more coarsely serrulate than in F. taxifolius. Vegetative propagation of F. aphelotaxifolius is apparently by abundant branched, chlorophyllose filaments. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 27, p. 350. | FNA vol. 27, p. 342. |
Parent taxa | Fissidentaceae > Fissidens | Fissidentaceae > Fissidens |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | F. ravenelii | |
Name authority | Bridel: Muscol. Recent., suppl. 1: 167. (1806) | Pursell: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 103: 35, figs. 1–15. (1976) |
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