Brymela parkeriana (Hook. & Grev.) W.R.Buck
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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
Pilotrichaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - ats. Stems creeping, to ca. 10 cm long, usually ca. 5 cm long, freely but irregularly branched, not or obscurely complanate-foliate; in cross-section with 3-5 rows of small thick-walled cells surrounding larger cells becoming more thin-walled toward center, central strand none; pseudoparaphyllia not seen; axillary hairs 2-celled, with a short brown basal cell and an elongate hyaline distal cell. Leaves erect-spreading, oblong to oblong-lanceolate, sometimes broadly so, (1.65-)2.1-2.6(-3) mm long, obtuse or more often acute, usually concave, undulate, less so when moist, shortly rounded to the insertion; margins serrulate throughout, more densely and sharply so above, plane throughout or sometimes narrowly recurved below; costa double, slightly diverging or ± parallel above, ending 3/4-4/5 the leaf length, slightly unequal, often projecting as a small spine at apex; cells ± long-rectangular, subflexuose, usually smooth, sometimes prorulose from projecting upper ends, especially toward leaf apex, very thick-walled, the walls ca. as wide as the lumina, porose, shorter in the extreme apex, becoming shorter, broader, and colored in 1-2 rows across the insertion; alar cells not differentiated. Asexual propagula not seen. Dioicous. Perichaetia somewhat inconspicuous; leaves ± erect, gradually broadly long-acuminate from an oblong base, 1.82.7 mm long, concave; margins serrulate in the acumen, entire below, plane throughout or narrowly incurved above; costa double, ending ca. 1/3 the leaf length, not entering the acumen, not projecting; cells linear, smooth, very thick-walled, porose, becoming shorter, broader, and colored across the insertion. Setae elongate, scarcely roughened at base of neck or smooth throughout, dark-red, 1.2-2(-2.8) cm long, ± curved but not particularly bent at apex; capsules suberect to horizontal, cylindric, 2-3 mm long; exothecial cells rectangular, the vertical walls thicker than the horizontal ones, obscurely collenchymatous; annulus of (1-)2 rows of thin-walled cells falling with the operculum; operculum long-rostrate from a high-conic base, the rostrum longer than the base; exostome teeth yellowish brown, narrowly bordered, on the front surface with a narrow furrow with a zig-zag line down it, the plates cross-striolate below, coarsely papillose above, slightly trabeculate and finely papillose at back; endostome smooth or very finely roughened, with a fairly high basal membrane, segments keeled, not perforate, with baffle-like crosswalls, almost as long as the teeth, cilia none. Spores spherical to oval, very finely and densely papillose, thick-walled, 25-31 µm diam. Calyptrae mitrate, covering the operculum and top of urn, irregularly deeply lobed at base, naked or with a few uniseriate hyaline hairs, smooth.
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Discussion
1. Brymela parkeriana (Hook. & Grev.) W. R. Buck, Brittonia 39: 218. 1987; Hookeria parkeriana Hook. & Grev., Edinburgh J. Sci. 2: 229. 1825; Hookeriopsis parkeriana (Hook. & Grev.) A. Jaeger, Ber. Thätigk. St. Gallischen Naturwiss. Ges. 1875-76: 360. 1877. Discussion. Brymela parkeriana is recognized by its undulate leaves with very thick-walled, porose cells. The plants are quite large and only somewhat altered when dry. So far, B. parkeriana is known in the West Indies from a single collection from Barbados, but it is not uncommon in humid forests of northern South America.
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Distribution
Range. Venezuela, northern Brazil, Guyana, Surinam; Barbados; usually growing on branches, in humid forests, at 50-1000 m.
Venezuela South America| Brazil South America| Guyana South America| Suriname South America| Barbados South America|