Flora of North America species comparison

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Hookeria lucens

Hookeria acutifolia

hookeria moss, shining clear-moss, shining hookeria

sharpleaf hookeria moss
Leaves

with obtuse apex;

laminal cells with scattered pairs of smaller cells, one relatively smaller and quadrate, resembling rhizoid initials at apex;

marginal cells width equal to medial cells.

with acute apex;

laminal cells (except rhizoid initials at apex) ± homogeneous;

marginal cells narrower than medial cells.
Capsule

strongly contracted below mouth when dry.

not or little contracted below mouth when dry.

Hookeria lucens

Hookeria acutifolia
Phenology Capsules mature late fall–spring. Capsules mature late fall–spring.
Habitat Coastal islands and adjacent mainland, ravines, pools near rivers, swampy lake margins, raised bogs in peaty muck, wet evergreen woods of Alnus, Chamaecyparis, Tsuga, forests of Sequoia sempervirens, coastal Sitka spruce forests, old logs in heathlands Steep to vertical banks, crevices and recesses in cold streams, gullies, ravines, mouths of caves, ledges, under overhanging cliffs, deep shade of evergreen and mixed hardwood forests, by waterfalls, gneiss, shale, conglomerates, on sandstone, in coves, low cloud forests, with Bryoxiphium, Trichomanes, Vittaria spp.
Elevation low to moderate elevations (0-500 m) (low to moderate elevations (0-1600 ft)) moderate to high elevations (500-2500 m) (moderate to high elevations (1600-8200 ft))
Distribution
from FNA
AK; CA; ID; OR; WA; BC; Europe; w Asia; Atlantic Islands
[WildflowerSearch map]
from FNA
AL; AR; CT; GA; IL; IN; KY; NC; OH; PA; SC; TN; VA; WA; WV; HI; BC; s Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies; e Asia; Africa
[WildflowerSearch map]
Discussion

A. J. E. Smith (2004) reported that in England the capsules of Hookeria lucens mature in late fall to spring; A. J. Grout (1934b) reported that sporulation occurred fall to early winter. Also, in England, 1-seriate chlorophyllous caducous filaments are occasionally produced from small cells in the distal portion of the leaf (Smith), but such were not seen in specimens examined for the flora.

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

Hookeria acutifolia is a species of warm-temperate and tropical distribution, rare and scattered in eastern North America, and disjunct to British Columbia and Washington state. The leaves may be more lanceolate (broadest below the middle) than those of H. lucens. The oceanic habitat appears conducive to fruiting in this species. A. J. Grout (1934b) indicated that spores were rarely produced in winter.

In Hookeria acutifolia, when the leaf apex lacks rhizoids, the apex is sharply acute and tipped with a small sharp apical cell; when rhizoids are present, the apical cells are digested and the apex becomes erose and bluntly rounded-acute, but never smoothly rounded-obtuse as in H. lucens. Hookeria acutifolia was reported as autoicous in Mexico (F. D. Bowers 1994), eastern North America (H. A. Crum and L. E. Anderson 1981), England (A. J. E. Smith 1978), and China (Lin B. J. and B. C. Tan 2002). A. J. Grout (1934b) described the sexual condition of the species as dioicous, and E. Lawton (1971) described specimens from the Pacific Northwest as having perichaetia and gemmiform perigonia on separate plants. Fruiting plants seen from British Columbia were autoicous; however, many separate plants in the same collection had only male buds.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 28, p. 250. FNA vol. 28, p. 249.
Parent taxa Hookeriaceae > Hookeria Hookeriaceae > Hookeria
Sibling taxa
H. acutifolia
H. lucens
Synonyms Hypnum lucens H. sullivantii, Pterygophyllum acutifolium
Name authority (Hedwig) Smith: Trans. Linn. Soc. London 9: 275. (1808) Hooker & Greville: Edinburgh J. Sci. 2: 225, plate 5 [upper left]. (1825)
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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