Flora of North America species comparison

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Hamatocaulis

Hamatocaulis lapponicus

hamatocaulis moss

Lapland hamatocaulis moss
Habit Plants medium-sized to very large, green, brownish, variegated green and red, entirely red, or brownish to blackish red. Plants large to very large, occasionally smaller, turgid, variegated red and green, brownish red, blackish red, or sometimes green throughout.
Stem(s)

leaves ovate to broadly ovate, abruptly narrowed to apex, suddenly curved distally, concave or strongly so, usually distinctly plicate;

base not or hardly decurrent;

margins finely, irregularly denticulate near apex, otherwise entire;

apex acute or acuminate;

costa single, ending beyond mid leaf;

alar cells not differentiated;

medial laminal cell walls thin or slightly incrassate, porose or not.

leaves often with red pigment present in large parts of leaf or sometimes only in transverse sub-basal zone, broadly ovate, concave or strongly so, plicate or not, 0.8–2 mm wide;

base patent, distinctly constricted at insertion;

apex acute or acuminate.
Sexual condition

dioicous;

inner perichaetial leaves plicate;

vaginula with paraphyses present.

Capsule

with annulus separating;

exostome external surface reticulate basally, margins slightly dentate distally.

Spores

10–25 µm.

Hamatocaulis

Hamatocaulis lapponicus
Habitat Wet, mesotrophic, often spring-influenced mires, lakeshores, submerged in lakes
Elevation low to moderate elevations (0-1100 m) (low to moderate elevations (0-3600 ft))
Distribution
from USDA
North America; West Indies; n South America; Eurasia; possibly Africa
from FNA
AK; AB; YT; n Eurasia
Discussion

Species 2 (2 in the flora).

Hamatocaulis is characterized by the lack of a central strand or hyalodermis, thin and relatively poorly developed cortex, undifferentiated alar cells, and plicate leaves from an erect base suddenly curved. The last feature is found also in Scorpidium. Hamatocaulis is one of the genera of Calliergonaceae in which red pigment is frequently present in parts of the plants. When only parts of the leaves are red, the pigment is mainly found in a sub-basal transverse band. Hamatocaulis is found in mineral-rich to intermediately mineral-rich, but usually not calcium-rich habitats.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Hamatocaulis lapponicus is rare in western parts of the flora area. The species is recognized by its large size (approximately as large as Scorpidium scorpioides), usually slightly plicate stem leaves without differentiated alar cells, and stem with neither central strand nor hyalodermis. Besides the larger size, H. lapponicus differs from H. vernicosus in its more or less patent stem leaf bases, and in stem leaves broadly ovate and more distinctly constricted at their insertion. Hamatocaulis lapponicus is usually more sparsely and irregularly branched than H. vernicosus, has somewhat less plicate leaves, and large parts of its shoots are more often red.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Stem leaves ovate; bases ± erect, slightly constricted at insertion; stem leaves 0.6-1.1 mm wide.
H. vernicosus
1. Stem leaves broadly ovate; bases patent, distinctly constricted at insertion; stem leaves 0.8- 2 mm wide.
H. lapponicus
Source FNA vol. 28, p. 386. FNA vol. 28, p. 387.
Parent taxa Calliergonaceae Calliergonaceae > Hamatocaulis
Sibling taxa
H. vernicosus
Subordinate taxa
H. lapponicus, H. vernicosus
Synonyms Hypnum lycopodioides var. lapponicum, Drepanocladus lapponicus
Name authority Hedenas: Lindbergia 15: 27, figs. 3D, E, 12, 14. (1989) (Norrlin) Hedenas: Lindbergia 15: 30. (1989)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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