Syrrhopodon circinatus (Brid.) Mitt.
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Authority
Reese, William D. 1993. Calymperaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 58: 1-102. (Published by NYBG Press)
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Family
Calymperaceae
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Scientific Name
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Type
Type. Guadeloupe. (B Bridel). [In insula Guadaloupa ad truncos arborum .... Clar. de Candolle communicavit.]
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Synonyms
Dicranum circinatum Brid., Syrrhopodon sordidus Müll.Hal., Syrrhopodon pittieri Renauld & Cardot, Syrrhopodon diversifolius Broth., Syrrhopodon subrigidus Broth.
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Description
Species Description - Plants dull, brownish-green, with conspicuously glossy leaf bases, in low to tall tufts; rhi-zoids brown; stems to 6 cm tall but mostly shorter, not often branched. Leaves dimorphic, vegetative involute and mostly contorted when dry, 5-6.5 mm long, acuminate to ligulate-lanceolate, apex narrowly acute; margins thickened, coarsely toothed with paired or triple teeth; leaf bases golden-brown, glossy, gradually narrowing to upper lamina, margins entire or somewhat dentate; cancellinae eroded and generally lacking entirely or in part in older leaves, confined to lower 1/3-1/2 of leaf base; median leaf cells smooth dorsally, bulging ventrally, ca. 9-13 µm long and 6-8 µm wide; gemmiferous leaves rarely produced, narrow, stiffly erect, sometimes reduced nearly to costa, bearing scanty, pale gemmae on ventral surface of tips. Seta dark red-brown, to 13 mm long; capsule 2 mm long; peristome lacking or rudimentaiy; operculum to 1.8 mm long. Spores 16-22 µm, granular to finely papillose. Calyptra smooth, 3 mm long.
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Discussion
Prior to revision of the elimbate species of American Syrrhopodon (Reese, 1977), this species was generally known as S. bernoullii C. Mull., a synonym of S. incompletus var. in-completus. The colored leaf bases with their fragile, eroded cancellinae, and the dimorphic leaves (but gemmiferous leaves are only infrequently present) distinguish S. circinatus easily from S. incompletus. Syrrhopodon rigidus is somewhat similar but has stout, often spreading or recurved teeth on the leaf shoulders and its cancellinae extend well up into the leaf bases, to the shoulders. Syrrhopodon circinatus is closely related to and very similar to the next species, S. hornschuchii\ see comments under the latter name for distinctions; also see comments under S. rigidus.
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Distribution
Endemic to tropical America: Mexico (Oaxaca); Central America, West Indies; South America (Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Trinidad). On tree trunks and logs in forests, to 2000 m; more frequent at higher elevations.
Mexico North America| Oaxaca Mexico North America| Guatemala Central America| Alta Verapaz Guatemala Central America| Belize Central America| Toledo Belize Central America| Nicaragua Central America| Bluefields Nicaragua Central America| Costa Rica South America| Cocos Island Costa Rica Central America| Limón Costa Rica Central America| Puntarenas Costa Rica Central America| San José Costa Rica Central America| Panama Central America| Colón Panama Central America| Darién Panamá Central America| Panamá Panama Central America| Guadeloupe South America| Dominica South America| Colombia South America| Antioquia Colombia South America| Meta Colombia South America| Santander Colombia South America| Venezuela South America| Amazonas Venezuela South America| Trinidad and Tobago South America| Ecuador South America| Peru South America| Loreto Peru South America| Brazil South America| Pará Brazil South America|