Neckera menziesii |
Neckeraceae |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Menzies' metaneckera moss, Menzies' neckera |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Habit | Plants 4–11(–20) cm. | Plants small to large, shelf-forming or dendroid, green, yellowish, or brownish, glossy to dull. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stem(s) | leaves (central) oblong to oblong-ligulate, undulate, 3–6 × (1–)2.2–2.5 mm; margins slightly serrate to serrulate distally; apex obtuse to broadly acute; costa single, 3/4 leaf length; alar cells quadrate; basal laminal cells quadrate to short-rectangular, 30–54 × 5–6 µm; distal medial cells linear, 27–36 × 3–5 µm; apical cells rhomboidal, (8–)12–18 × 5–6 µm. Sexual condition dioicous. |
creeping, or forming stipe perpendicular to substrate; secondary branches produced regularly along stem or only distally; paraphyllia absent or present, few to many, simple or branched; pseudoparaphyllia filamentous to foliose; rhizoids present only on primary stem or branch apices that touch substrate. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Seta | 0.2–0.3 cm. |
short to long, smooth. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sexual condition | synoicous, autoicous, or dioicous. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Capsule | immersed. |
erect, suberect, or horizontal, immersed to exserted; peristome double (single in Neomacounia); exostome with external surface smooth or cross striolate, papillose distally; endostome basal membrane low or high, segments linear to lanceolate, smooth to papillose, perforated along keel by narrow slits, cilia absent or 1–3, often connate. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Calyptra | cucullate, naked or hairy. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spores | papillose to finely papillose. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Primary | stem leaves appressed, erect-appressed, or erect-spreading, ovate, lanceolate, or deltoid; margins entire to serrulate; apex obtuse, broadly acute, or acute; ecostate, costa double and short, or single; distal medial laminal cells rhomboidal to fusiform, smooth to papillose. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stipe | leaves of dendroid plants appressed, erect-spreading, or erect, obovate, deltoid, or lanceolate; margins plane to recurved, usually entire; apex acute; costa single; distal medial laminal cells fusiform, linear to rectangular. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Secondary | stem and branch leaves widely erect, erect-spreading, or spreading, ovate, ovate-ligulate, oblong-ligulate, oblong-ovate, or ovate-lanceolate, symmetric or asymmetric, flat or undulate, crisped or slightly plicate; base occasionally auriculate, basal lobes absent (small lobe present at adaxial base of lateral leaves in Homaliadelphus); margins usually entire basally, slightly serrulate, serrate, or entire at apex; apex truncate, obtuse, obtuse-apiculate, or broadly to narrowly acute; costa double, single, or ecostate; basal laminal cells linear to rectangular, smooth or prorulose, walls pitted or not; distal medial cells rhomboidal, fusiform to linear, or linear-flexuose; apical cells round, oval, rhombic, rhomboidal, or fusiform. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Neckera menziesii |
Neckeraceae |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Logs, trunks, shaded rock and cliffs, mixed conifer-hardwood, Abies, Quercus, Sequoia, and Thuja forests | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Elevation | low to high elevations (10-2000 m) (low to high elevations (0-6600 ft)) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
AK; CA; ID; MT; NM; OR; SD; UT; WA; AB; BC; YT; Europe; Asia (China, Japan) |
Nearly worldwide; temperate and tropical regions |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Discussion | Neckera menziesii can be distinguished from other dioicous species by the single costa that extends 3/4 of the leaf length and the slightly serrate leaf margin of straight teeth. In addition, the seta is very short, and the capsule immersed. The abundant paraphyllia and single costa were used by W. C. Steere (1941, 1967) to segregate N. menziesii into the genus Metaneckera. Those characters are common in other Neckera species from South and Central America and Asia and therefore within the limits of the genus. The stem leaf base is slightly auriculate; the margins are recurved basally; and the distal medial cell walls are pitted. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Genera 29, species ca. 140 (8 genera, 14 species in the flora). Neckeraceae traditionally has included shelf-forming (Homalia, Neckera, and Neckeropsis) and dendroid (Porotrichum and Thamnobryum) pleurocarpous mosses. As characterized by M. Fleischer (1906) and V. F. Brotherus (1924–1925), the family was divided into Neckeroideae Brotherus and Thamnioideae M. Fleischer, reflecting the two growth forms. The relationship between these two groups has been demonstrated in phylogenetic analyses (E. De Luna et al. 2000; H. Tsubota et al. 2004; A. V. Troitsky et al. 2007), where both groups are nested in a larger clade. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Key |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source | FNA vol. 28, p. 604. | FNA vol. 28, p. 602. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Neckeraceae > Neckera | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Synonyms | Metaneckera menziesii | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Name authority | Drummond: Musc. Amer., 162. (1828) | Schimper | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Web links |