Bazzania stolonifera (Sw.) Trevis.

  • Authority

    Fulford, Margaret H. 1963. Manual of the leafy Hepaticae of Latin America--Part I. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 11: 1-172.

  • Family

    Lepidoziaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Bazzania stolonifera (Sw.) Trevis.

  • Description

    Species Description - Plants large, dull olive-green to brownish-green, light yellow-green at the growing tips; stems stout, to 10 cm or more long, with leaves to 5 mm wide; lateral branches numerous, 1 cm or more apart, diverging at a wide angle; flagelliform branches numerous, long, often branched. Line of leaf insertion curved in the upper part. Leaves widely spreading, imbricate, nearly plane, becoming convex on drying, often strongly deflexed, asymmetrically ovate, to 3 cm long on robust plants, to 1.5 mm wide at the base, narrowing to the transversely truncate, tridentate apex; teeth spreading, deltoid, acute to subobtuse, mostly unequal, three to seven cells long, three to seven cells wide at the base, the sinuses broad, the margins straight to undulate; leaf-cells thin-walled, the trigones small to large with convex sides, the lumina angular-rounded to stellate, the cuticle verruculose; cells of the apical portion 25 µ long X 21 µ. Underleaves round-quadrate, broader than the stem, mostly 0.7-0.8 mm long, 0.8-1.0 mm wide, with a hyaline border of four to eight or more rows of cells, the apical margin broadly undulate, with three or four lobes, the bases rounded to semi-cordate; hyaline cells 18-30 µ X 15-18 µ, thin-walled, with few trigones, the chlorophyllose cells with conspicuous trigones. Male branches to 1 mm long, the bracts broadly ovate, 0.6 X 0.5-0.6 mm wide, strongly eoncave, bi- or tridentate with short, broad teeth, the bracteoles smaller; antheridia borne singly or in pairs. Female branches several on a stem, the bracts of the innermost series 1.5-1.8 mm long X 0.85-0.95 mm wide at the base, divided to one-third or one-fourth their length into two to four long, narrow, crenulate segments. Perianth long, the mouth contracted, short-ciliate to dentate. Sporo-phyte capsule 1.5 mm long, ovoid-cvlindric, of four or five layers of cells. Elaters 390 µ long, 18 µ wide, bispiral. Spores 15-18 µ, minutely punctate. Fig. 9, a-e.

  • Discussion

    Jungermannia stolonifera Swartz, Prodr. Fl. Ind. Occ. 144. 1788. Pleuroschisma stoloniferum Dumortier, Eecueil Obs. Jungerm. 20. 1835. Jungermannia vincentiana Lehmann & Lindenberg in Lehmann, Pug. Pl. 4: 59. 1832. Herpetium vincentianum Montagne in D’Orbigny, Voy. Amér. Mérid. 72: 74. 1839. Herpetium stoloniferum Montagne in D’Orbigny, Voy. Amér. Mérid. 72: 74. 1839. Mastigobryum stoloniferum Lindenberg in G. L. & N. Syn. Hep. 227. 1845. Mastigobryum vincentinum Lehmann & Lindenberg in G. L. & N. Syn. Hep. 226. 1845. Bazzania vincentina Trevisan, Mem. 1st. Lomb. 13: 414. 1877. Bazzania leptostipa Spruce, Trans. Proc. Bot. Soc. Edinb. 15: 374. 1885. Mastigobryum quelchii Stephani, Spec. Hep. 3: 471. 1908. Mastigobryum leptostipum Stephani, Spec. Hep. 3: 524. 1909. Mastigobryum turlcheimii Beauverd in Stephani, Spec. Hep. 6: 481. 1924. Mastigobryum sylvaticum Stephani, Spec. Hep. 6: 481. 1924. (as syn.) Non M. sylvaticum Gottsche. Mastigobryum azuayense Stephani, Spec. Hep. 6: 454. 1924. While the plants of B. stolonifera may show considerable variation in the width of the hyaline border of the underleaves, they may be readily distinguished from the other South American species with hyaline cells on the underleaves, in that the hyaline cells are always thin-walled and the chlorophyllose cells have distinct trigones.

  • Distribution

    Habitat: Very abundant in forests throughout tropical America, in deep tufts or mats on soil, logs and trees.

    Cuba South America| Jamaica South America| Saint Kitts and Nevis 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| Mexico North America| Guatemala Central America| Belize Central America| Honduras Central America| Costa Rica South America| Panama Central America| Colombia South America| Venezuela South America| Ecuador South America|