Syrrhopodon cryptocarpus Dozy & Molk.
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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. Suriname. Van Beek Vollenhoven s.n. (holotype, U; isotypes L, NY).
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Synonyms
Heliconema cryptocarpos (Dozy & Molk.) L.T.Ellis & Eddy, Syrrhopodon spruceanus Mitt., Calymperes leboucherianum Paris & Broth., Syrrhopodon alatomarginatus H.A.Crum
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Description
Species Description - Plants small, slender, dull, green to yellowish-green, in low, thin, turfs; rhizoids purple; stems to 2.5 cm tall but mostly much shorter. Leaves mostly 2.5-3.5 mm long, somewhat contorted and often secund at stem tips when dry, ligulate to elliptic or oblanceolate from scarcely broader base, apex blunt; margins thickened, coarsely serrate-toothed in rows forming three or more irregular wings; cancellinae small, narrow, mostly persistent, reaching to or beyond leaf shoulders, cells of cancellinae often more or less eroded, bearing distinctive faint transverse thickenings; median leaf cells circular to rectangular, mostly 9-14 µm long and 5.5-8.5 pm wide, sharply papillose dorsally, mammillose to mammillose-papillose ventrally; gemmae infrequently produced, scarce, in low, dense clusters along ventral surface of costa and occasionally on thickened leaf margins near apex. Sporophytes immersed, inconspicuous; seta to ca. 0.7 mm long, completely enclosed by vaginula, which extends to base of urn; capsule urceolate, to 1 mm long; peristome fragile, teeth irregular, transversely striate-papillose, to ca. 170 pm tall; operculum rostrate to conic-rostrate, ca. 0.7 mm long. Spores 19-24 pm, smooth or granular. Calyptra ca. 0.7 mm long, campanulate-conical, papillose distally, barely covering operculum.
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Discussion
This distinctive species is readily identified through leaf shape, the triply or more winged margins, and the cells of the cancellinae with faint transverse thickenings. The immersed capsules are also distinctive; only S. xanthophylla shares the latter feature among neotropical Syrrhopodon. Ellis (1989) treated both S. cryptocarpos and S. xanthophylla in Heliconema Ellis & Eddy, (nom. illeg. = Chameleion Ellis & Eddy in Eddy), primarily because of their immersed sporophytes. However the two are only superficially similar, with the latter clearly more closely related to the suite of species including S. circinatus, S. hornschuchii, S. rigidus, S. rupestris, and S. steyermarkii (Reese 1977: 27). The immersed-sporophyte habit has evidently arisen separately in two different lineages of American Syrrhopodon (Reese 1977); thus it is a moot question as to whether or not the condition merits generic recognition.
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Distribution
Africa (Gabon, Zaire); Central and South America. Panama (Colon). Colombia (Amazonas, Antioquia, Putumayo, Vaupés). Venezuela (Amazonas). Trinidad. Guyana. Suriname. French Guiana. Ecuador (Napo). Peru (Loreto, Madre de Dios). Brazil (Acre, Amazonas, Para, Rondonia, Roraima). Bolivia (Beni). Widespread and locally very common in South America. Tree trunks, rotted logs, stumps, termite nests, in wet forests to ca. 700 m.
Panama Central America| Colón Panama Central America| Colombia South America| Antioquia Colombia South America| Venezuela South America| Amazonas Venezuela South America| Trinidad and Tobago South America| Guyana South America| Suriname South America| French Guiana South America| Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni French Guiana South America| Ecuador South America| Napo Ecuador South America| Peru South America| Loreto Peru South America| Brazil South America| Acre Brazil South America| Amazonas Brazil South America| Pará Brazil South America| Rondônia Brazil South America| Roraima Brazil South America| Bolivia South America| Beni Bolivia South America|