Fissidens pallidinervis Mitt.

  • Authority

    Pursell, Ronald A. 2007. Fissidentaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 101 (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Fissidentaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Fissidens pallidinervis Mitt.

  • Type

    Type (from protologue). Andes Peruvianae, Tarapoto ad rivulum Marona-yacu (2000 ped.) Spruce 536 (holotype, NY; isotypes, BM, H-BR, NY).

  • Synonyms

    Fissidens minutus Thwaites & Mitt., Fissidens garberi Lesq. & James, Fissidens mateoensis Broth., Fissidens pusillissimus Steere, Fissidens minutus var. pusillissimus (Steere) Pursell

  • Description

    Species Description - Plants usually sordid green. Stems monomor-phic, unbranched and branched, to 9 mm long x 1.5 mm wide, usually much smaller; rhizoids basal and axillary, light brown to reddish; axillary hyaline nodules absent; epidermis and outer 1-2 tiers of cortical cells small, incrassate, pigmented; inner cortical cells larger, thin-walled, hyaline; central strand present or absent. Leaves crispate, somewhat inrolled from tips when dry, loosely imbricate, as many as 38 pairs, usually fewer, oblong to lanceolate, broadly acute to obtuse to rounded, sometimes abruptly narrowed to a short, rounded apex, to 1.2 mm long x 0.4 mm wide; margins finely serrulate, limbate and ± entire on proximal 1/3-1/2 of perichaetial leaves and 1-2 pairs of subtending leaves, sometimes intralaminal in part, often indistinct on small plants, limbidial cells unistratose; costa ending 3-16 cells below apex, rarely percur-rent, often spurred distally, bryoides type; dorsal lamina rounded or truncate at insertion, not decurrent; vaginant laminae of cauline leaves ± 1/2-2/3 leaf length, acute, ± equal, minor lamina ending near margin; laminal cells obscure, eguttulate, unistratose, firm-walled, pluripapillose, rounded hexagonal, 4.5-8 µm long, in transverse section ± twice as deep as wide. Monoicous (rhizautoicous, cladauto-icous, rarely gonioautoicous); perigonia teriminal on stems nearly as long as perchaetial stems or gemmiform, axillary; perichaetial stems terminal on stems and branches. Sporophytes 1-2 per perichaetium, yellow, darkening with age; seta smooth, to 2 mm long; theca exserted, erect, radially symmetric, to 0.8 mm long, stomatose, exothecial cells quadrate to oblong, vertical walls thicker than horizontal walls, collenchymatous; peristome scariosus type; operculum conic, short-rostrate, 0.4 mm long. Spores smooth, 7-11 µm diam. Calyptra cucullate, ± prorate, 0.4 mm long.

  • Discussion

    Synonyms from outside the area of this study (Iwatsuki & Suzuki, 1982; Pursell et al., 1993): Fissidens chungii Thér., Fissidens foreauanus Cardot in P. de la Varde, Fissidens nakamurae Sakurai, and Fissidens rizalensis E. B. Bartram.

    This small moss is distinguished by its pluripapillose laminal cells, broadly acute to obtuse to rounded leaf apex, and limbidium restricted to the vaginant laminae of perichaetial and 1 or 2 pairs of subtending leaves. In small expressions, however, the limbidium can be difficult to demonstrate. The absence of a clear, sharp cell terminating most leaves will separate the species from F. elegans. Fissidens pallidinervis is close to F. guianensis, but the limbidium is found on all well developed leaves in F. guianensis, not just the perichatial and subtending leaves. In addition, the costa in F. pallidinervis is generally shorter than the costa in F. guianensis. The gradually tapered leaf apices and the intralaminal limbidium on the vaginant laminae of leaves of F. neglectus will separate this species from F. pallidinervis.

    The misuse of Fissidens microcladus Thwaites & Mitt, in Mitt, for this species was discussed earlier by Pursell et al. (1993).

    Distribution and Ecology: Mexico (Campeche, Chiapas, Colima, Jalisco, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Quintana Roo, San Luís Potosí, Sinaloa, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Yucatán); Central America (Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama); West Indies (Bahamas, Bermuda, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Les Saintes, Navassa, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, St. Eustatius, St. John, St. Martin, St. Thomas); South America (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad, Venezuela); on tree bark, rotting wood rock and boulders (including limestone), soil, and termite nests; sea level-1800 m.

  • Distribution

    Pernambuco Brazil South America| La Altagracia Dominican Republic South America| Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni French Guiana South America| Grand'Anse Haiti South America| Mayagüez Puerto Rico South America| Vieques Puerto Rico South America| Trinidad and Tobago South America| Saint Croix Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Sint Eustatius South America| Dominica South America| Saint Ann Jamaica South America| Campeche Mexico North America| Chiapas Mexico North America| Colima Mexico North America| Jalisco Mexico North America| Nayarit Mexico North America| Oaxaca Mexico North America| Quintana Roo Mexico North America| San Luis Potosí Mexico North America| Sinaloa Mexico North America| Tabasco Mexico North America| Tamaulipas Mexico North America| Veracruz Mexico North America| Yucatán Mexico North America| Alta Verapaz Guatemala Central America| Petén Guatemala Central America| Cayo Belize Central America| Toledo Belize Central America| Atlántida Honduras Central America| Copán Honduras Central America| Olancho Honduras Central America| Yoro Honduras Central America| La Libertad El Salvador Central America| Managua Nicaragua Central America| Cartago Costa Rica Central America| Guanacaste Costa Rica Central America| Puntarenas Costa Rica Central America| Darién Panamá Central America| Panamá Panama Central America| Bermuda South America| Grand Bahama Bahamas South America| Cienfuegos Cuba South America| La Habana Cuba South America| Piñar del Río Cuba South America| Sancti Spíritus Cuba South America| Santiago de Cuba Cuba South America| Trelawny Jamaica South America| Navassa Island South America| Nord Haiti South America| Nord-Ouest Haiti South America| Ouest Haiti South America| Barahona Dominican Republic South America| Distrito Nacional Dominican Republic South America| Duarte Dominican Republic South America| Independencia Dominican Republic South America| La Vega Dominican Republic South America| Pedernales Dominican Republic South America| Samaná Dominican Republic South America| Sánchez Ramírez Dominican Republic South America| San Pedro de Macorís Dominican Republic South America| Puerto Rico South America| Saint John Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Antioquia Colombia South America| Chocó Colombia South America| Magdalena Colombia South America| Risaralda Colombia South America| Aragua Venezuela South America| Lara Venezuela South America| Monagas Venezuela South America| Zulia Venezuela South America| Sipaliwini Suriname South America| Cayenne French Guiana South America| Galápagos Islands Ecuador South America| Los Ríos Ecuador South America| Napo Ecuador South America| Loreto Peru South America| San Martín Peru South America| Acre Brazil South America| Amazonas Brazil South America| Goiás Brazil South America| Mato Grosso Brazil South America| Mato Grosso do Sul Brazil South America| Minas Gerais Brazil South America| Pará Brazil South America| Paraná Brazil South America| Pernambuco Brazil South America| Piauí Brazil South America| Rio de Janeiro Brazil South America| Rio Grande do Sul Brazil South America| Rondônia Brazil South America| Roraima Brazil South America| Santa Catarina Brazil South America| São Paulo Brazil South America| Beni Bolivia South America| La Paz Bolivia South America| Santa Cruz Bolivia South America| Tarija Bolivia South America| Alto Paraguay Paraguay South America| Amambay Paraguay South America| Guairá Paraguay South America| Paraguarí Paraguay South America| Salta Argentina South America| Tucuman Argentina South America| Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Saint Martin South America| Pointe-à-Pitre Guadeloupe South America| New Providence Bahamas South America|