Scorpidium scorpioides (Hedw.) Limpr.

  • Authority

    Hedenäs, Lars. 2003. Amblystegiaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 89: 1--107. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Campyliaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Scorpidium scorpioides (Hedw.) Limpr.

  • Type

    Type. Europe (Sweden, France, or Germany [Sachsen]) s.n. (lectotype, G, designated by Hedenäs, 1989a).

  • Synonyms

    Hypnum bolivianum Schimp., Fontinalis turfacea Herzog, Scorpidium scorpioides var. venezuelense E.B.Bartram, Hypnum scorpioides Hedw., Scorpidium turfaceum (Herzog) Herzog

  • Description

    Species Description - Plants large or very large, occasionally mediumsized (stem leaves (0.7-)0.9-2.4 mm wide), turgid; green, brown, or often red to blackish red. Stem usually sparsely or irregularly pinnately branched, often with a characteristic clawlike shoot apex; central strand present; hyalodermis present, partial or complete (> 25% of stem circumference); pseudoparaphyllia broad; axillary hairs with 2-9(-ll)-celled upper part, this hyaline when young. Stem leaves curving gradually or sometimes rather abruptly in upper part from erect-patent to patent base, or straight or almost straight, varying in shape from almost orbicular to broadly ovate-lanceolate, narrowing abruptly or gradually to apex, not plicate, strongly concave; apex obtuse and mostly apiculate (then leaf narrows abruptly) or acute or acuminate (then leaf narrows gradually); margin sometimes finely denticulate near leaf apex, otherwise entire; costa double, rarely single or absent, reaching somewhat below (or rarely slightly above) midleaf, when single often branched; median laminal cells (shorter half of leaf in curved leaves) 32.0-200.0(-210.0) × (4.5-)5.0-12.0 µm, thin-walled and eporose to strongly incrassate and porose; alar cells 5-20, differentiated, inflated and thin-walled, forming small group in basal angle of leaf. Inner perichaetial leaves narrowing ± abruptly to acuminate apex. Lower outside of exostome varying from almost completely cross-striolate to almost completely reticulate. [Sporophytes not known from neotropical material.]

  • Discussion

    Notes. A Bolivian Mandon specimen in BM, with number 1709 added after the original text and labeled Hypnum turgescens, also has the name H. bolivianum on the label. The number should be 1708 for this specimen according to Muller (1897b), and I interpret "1708" as a misprint. The material belongs to Scorpidium scorpioides.

    The type material of Fontinalis turfacea Herzog represents S. scorpioides with straight leaves. The type material of Scorpidium scorpioides var. venezuelense E. B. Bartram represents S. scorpioides with relatively weakly falcate leaves.

    Scorpidium scorpioides has been reported from Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, and Bolivia (e.g., Churchill & Linares, 1995; Delgadillo et al., 1995; Hegewald & Hegewald, 1985; Pursell, 1973). This species, which from the published reports seems to be relatively rare and local in the Andes, is actually rather widespread, and is here reported from Ecuador as well. Scorpidium scorpioides is easily known by its large size and often red colors; its strongly concave, broad, and frequently short-pointed leaves with a short single or double costa; and its small groups of 5-20 differentiated and inflated alar cells. Phenotypes with straight leaves are relatively common in the Andes, and look strikingly different from those with falcate leaves, but there does not seem to be any difference other than the leaf curvature between these phenotypes. Possibly the high frequency of straight-leafed phenotypes is due to the fact that many specimens were collected in running water. Almost 50% of the studied Andean specimens of S. scorpioides, mainly straight-leafed ones, were misidentified as Pseudo-calliergon turgescens. The latter is easily differentiated from Scorpidium scorpioides by its complete lack of hyalodermis; its numerous quadrate or rectangular, incrassate or strongly incrassate, slightly inflated alar cells that form a large and indistinctly delimited group; and its often turning yellow brown (but never red) with areas that have a golden gloss in dry condition (seen in a dissecting microscope).

    Distribution and Ecology: Venezuela (3000-4100 m a.s.l.), Colombia (3425-4260 m), Ecuador (3800-4200 m), Peru (3400-5100 m), and Bolivia (3000-4680 m). Widespread mainly in the arctic to temperate zones of N America and Eurasia; rare in Tasmania. In relatively wet and intermediately mineral-rich to mineral-rich wetland habitats, in fens and marshes, on shores, sometimes submerged in pools and lakes, rarely in slowly moving water.

  • Distribution

    Colombia South America| Arauca Colombia South America| Boyacá Colombia South America| Cundinamarca Colombia South America| Meta Colombia South America| Santander Colombia South America| Venezuela South America| Miranda Venezuela South America| Trujillo Venezuela South America| Azuay Ecuador South America| Bolívar Ecuador South America| Cotopaxi Ecuador South America| Napo Ecuador South America| Peru South America| Ancash Peru South America| Junín Peru South America| Lima Peru South America| San Martín Peru South America| Bolivia South America| La Paz Bolivia South America|