Syrrhopodon rigidus Hook. & Grev.

  • Authority

    Reese, William D. 1993. Calymperaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 58: 1-102. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Calymperaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Syrrhopodon rigidus Hook. & Grev.

  • Type

    Type. St. Vincent. Upon trees on Mount St. Andrew, 1012 feet, Guilding s.n. (holotype, BM; isotypes, BM-K, NY).

  • Synonyms

    Calymperes androgynum Mont., Syrrhopodon longisetaceus Müll.Hal.

  • Description

    Species Description - Plants green to brownish-green, often glossy, in dense, wiiy tufts and cushions, with conspicuous, glossy, golden-reddish leaf bases; rhizoids red, conspicuous; stems mostly ca. 1 cm tall, forked. Leaves strongly dimorphic, gemmiferous ones narrow, rigidly erect, often overtopping the broader flexuous vegetative leaves, the latter mostly 7-11 mm long, Unear or wider from scarcely broader base, apex blunt or acute with costa sometimes excurrent; margins thickened and coarsely toothed above, basal margins usually bordered by several rows of elongate thick-walled more or less porose cells, and with irregular coarse sharp teeth, at least some spreading or recurved; cancellinae more or less persistent, narrow, extending to leaf shoulders, distal cells often colored; median leaf cells usually incrassate, often with sinuose-porose walls, circular to rectangular, bulging ventrally, smooth or papillose dorsally; gemmiferous leaves commonly present, reduced to naked (or nearly so) costa with vestigial lamina at base, gemmae borne on tips. Seta red-brown, 15-20 mm long; capsule ovoid, 1.5-2 mm long; peristome lacking; operculum 2 mm long. Spores21.5-26.5 jam, granular. Calyptra 3.5-4 mm long, smooth.

  • Discussion

    This moss is somewhat similar to S. circinatus-also with colored leaf bases-but easily distinguished by its mostly linear leaves, more persistent cancellinae extending up to the leaf shoulders, margins of the lower lamina bordered by elongate hyaline cells and with coarse, sharp, often recurved teeth, and the common presence of the remarkably modified gemmiferous leaves (often lacking in S. circinatus). It is also similar to S. hornschuchii, which has similarly modified gemmiferous leaves, but differs, among other ways, in its persistent cancellinae that extend much further up into the leaf base, to the leaf shoulders. In S. circinatus the leaf shoulders are irregularly dentate-serrate but never have sharp spreading-recurved teeth, and the cancellinae are always eroded and confined to the lower half of the leaf base. Erect narrow gemmiferous leaves also occur in S. circinatus but are neither as common nor as conspicuous as those of S. rigidus.

    Distribution and ecology: Endemic to the neotropics. Mexico (Veracruz). Central America: Costa Rica (Cocos Island, Puntarenas); Panama (Canal Zone, Coclé, Colón, Darién, Panamá, “Panama-Colombia Frontier,” Veraguas). West Indies: Jamaica; Puerto Rico; Guadeloupe; Dominica; Martinique; St. Vincent; Grenada. South America: Colombia (Amazonas, Antioquia, Narino, Santander, Valle, Vaupés); Venezuela (Amazonas, Bolívar, Sucre). Guyana. Suriname. French Guiana. Ecuador. Brazil (Amazonas, Para) Tree trunks, lianas, roots, logs, soil, rock, in moist to mesic forests from near sea level to above 2100 m, most frequent above 300m.

  • Distribution

    Costa Rica South America| Puntarenas Costa Rica Central America| Panama Central America| Darién Panamá Central America| Panama Central America| Veraguas Panama Central America| Jamaica South America| Puerto Rico South America| Guadeloupe South America| Dominica South America| Martinique South America| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines South America| Grenada South America| Colombia South America| Amazonas Colombia South America| Vaupés Colombia South America| Antioquia Colombia South America| Valle Colombia South America| Vaupés Colombia South America| Venezuela South America| Amazonas Venezuela South America| Bolívar Venezuela South America| Trinidad and Tobago South America| Guyana South America| Suriname South America| French Guiana South America| Ecuador South America| Brazil South America| Amapá Brazil South America| Amazonas Brazil South America| Pará Brazil South America|