Calypogeia tenax (Spruce) Steph.

  • Authority

    Fulford, Margaret H. 1968. Manual of the leafy Hepaticae of Latin America--Part III. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 11: 277-392.

  • Family

    Calypogeiaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Calypogeia tenax (Spruce) Steph.

  • Description

    Species Description - Plants large, in yellow- to olive-green mats; stems creeping, to 7 cm long, with leaves, to 3 mm or more broad, irregularly pinnate; branches frequent, long, leafy, ventral-intercalary from the axils of the underleaves, sometimes small-leaved, occasionally branched; stem in transverse section of similar cells throughout. Rhizoids occasional, hyaline or yellowish, in a tuft from the base of an underleaf. Line of leaf insertion oblique, the dorsal end scarcely curved. Leaves imbricate, widely spreading, tending to be slightly ascendant, subrectangular, 1.1 X 0.84 mm, the dorsal base slightly curved, the apex broad, truncate-rounded, the ventral base scarcely decurrent; cells of the margin of the upper part of the leaf variable, 30-52 X 20 µ, often broader than high and forming an indistinct border; cells of the upper part of the leaf 30-50 X 30 µ, hexagonal to elongate, the walls uniformly thin, without trigones, the cuticle smooth. Underleaves longer than broad, a little broader than the stem, bifid to below the middle, the segments narrowly ovate-acute, the cells elongate. Female bracts and bracteoles in 3 or 4 series, the intermediate series to 0.96 mm long, pale, the cells elongate. Male inflorescence and sporophyte not seen.

    Distribution and Ecology - Habitat: On damp soil, rotten wood, and rootlets of palm.

  • Discussion

    Kantia tenax Spruce, Trans. Proc. Bot. Soc. Edinb. 15: 416. 1885.