Protocephalozia

• Authority

  Fulford, Margaret H. 1968. Manual of the leafy Hepaticae of Latin America--Part III. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 11: 277-392.

• Family

  Lepidoziaceae

• Scientific Name

  Protocephalozia

• Description

  Genus Description - Vegetative plant small, light green, branched-filamentous (a prolonged persistent protonema from a Cephalozia-type sporeling) suggesting the protonemata of certain mosses; filaments uniseriate, rarely 2 cells wide near the base. Rhizoids absent. Plants monoicous or dioicous, the inflorescences foliaceous. Male inflorescence terminal or lateral, the long curved branch with to 10 series of bracts, with rhizoids scattered over the ventral side of the axis; bracteoles absent. Antheridial stalk uniseriate. Female inflorescence never terminal on a filament, rhizoids abundant at the base, the bracts and bracteoles tristichous, in 2 or 3 series, the inner series longest, long-ovate, bifid to one-half their length. Perianth long, 3-keeled above, the mouth of 6 long slender segments similar to those of the bracts and bracteoles. Shoot-sporophyte relationship a shoot/calyptra. Capsule small, dark, oblong in outline, the wall of 2 layers with characteristic markings; seta in transverse sections mostly 4 cells across, an outer layer of 8 rows and an inner core of 4 cells.

• Discussion

  Cephalozia subg. I. Proto-Cephalozia Spruce, On Cephalozia 24, 1882. Type species: Cephalozia (Proto-Cephalozia) ephemeroides Spruce, 1882.