Leskeodon andicola (Spruce ex Mitt.) Broth.
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Authority
Buck, William R. 1998. Pleurocarpous mosses of the West Indies. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 82: 1-400.
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Family
Daltoniaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Plants small, in lustrous, usually yellow-green, usually small, thin mats. Stems suberect to ascending, to ca. 1 cm long, usually not branched, fragile; in cross-section with ca. 2 rows of colored, medium-sized, very thick-walled cells surrounding a few slightly larger but otherwise similar cells, central strand none; axillary hairs with a single shortish brown basal cell and 2-3 elongate hyaline distal cells. Leaves not or only slightly contorted when dry, lateral leaves wide-spreading, oblong-obovate, 1.8-2.5 mm long; dorsal leaves erect, ± ovate to oblong-ovate, 1.5-1.7 mm long, acute, sometimes with a short apiculus; margins bordered by 1-2 rows of narrow, elongate cells, merging at apex to form a short (ca. 28 µm), few-celled apiculus, remaining distinct at leaf base, entire, plane; costa single, slender, ending 3/4-7/8 the leaf length; upper leaf cells irregularly isodiametric, small, mostly 912 µm diam., firm-walled, ± collenchymatous, juxtacostal cells in lower 1/3 of leaf greatly differentiated in 4-8 rows from costa, rectangular, to 65 X 25 µm, filling leaf base at narrow insertion. Asexual propagula not seen. Autoicous. Perichaetia small, inconspicuous; leaves few, pale, erect, lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, 0.5-0.9 mm long, gradually or ± abruptly acuminate; margins bordered by a single row of elongate cells, sometimes obscure, merging to form the apiculus, subentire, plane; costa single, slender, ending near midleaf; cells long-hexagonal to rectangular, thin- to firm-walled, ± collenchymatous. Setae elongate, smooth throughout or often sparsely and obscurely roughened above, reddish, 4-6 mm long; capsules erect, short-cylindric with a well-developed neck, 0.5-1 mm long; exothecial cells subquadrate, thin-walled, collenchymatous; annulus none; operculum conic-rostrate; exostome teeth recurved when dry, bordered, on the front surface pale, finely papillose-spiculose, with a zig-zag median line, yellow at back, papillose, somewhat trabeculate; endostome pale, papillose-spiculose throughout, with a low basal membrane, segments narrow, keeled, with baffle-like crosswalls, not perforate, ca. as long as the teeth, cilia none. Spores spherical, papillose, 8.5-12 µm diam. Calyptrae mitrate, covering only the operculum and apex of urn, fimbriate at base, naked or with a few scattered 1-4-seriate ramenta, roughened above.
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Discussion
Mniadelphus parvulus Schimp. ex Besch., Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot. VI, 3: 227. 1876; Leskeodon parvulus (Besch.) Broth, in Engl. & Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenfam. 1(3): 926. 1907. Discussion. Leskeodon andicola is characterized by plants scarcely contorted when dry. The leaves are relatively large and oblong-obovate. The laminai borders are narrow and merge above to form only a small apiculus. The upper cells are small and essentially isodiametric. These contrast greatly with a cancellina-like, juxtacostal area of large cells in the lower third of the leaf. Leskeodon andicola is possibly only confused with short-apiculate forms of L. cubensis. Leskeodon andicola, though, may be distinguished from L. cubensis by the smaller upper cells and very different juxtacostal basal cells. Also, L. cubensis has a more distinctive obovate to spatulate leaf than does L. andicola, where it is distinctly oblong-obovate. Leskeodon cubensis usually has a long, well-developed hairpoint and so confusion is no problem.
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Distribution
Range. Guatemala to Peru; Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola (Haiti and Dominican Republic), Puerto Rico, Guadeloupe, Dominica, St. Vincent; usually growing on old wood and rocks, in humid forests, at ca. 1000 m.
Central America| Peru South America| Ecuador South America| Colombia South America| Cuba South America| Jamaica South America| Haiti South America| Dominican Republic South America| Puerto Rico South America| Guadeloupe South America| Dominica South America| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines South America|