Hookeriopsis luteorufescens (Besch.) A.Jaeger
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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 - Plants small to medium-sized, in lustrous, yellow-green or more often golden and bronze-tinged, often dense, ± extensive mats. Stems creeping, to ca. 5 cm long, freely but irregularly branched, the branches to ca. 1 cm long, branch apices sometimes falcate-cuspidate, not complanate-foliate; in cross-section with 2-3(-4) rows of small thick-walled cells surrounding several large firm-walled cells, central strand none; pseudoparaphyllia few, small, filamentous to subfoliose; axillary hairs 2-celled, with a short brown basal cell and an elongate hyaline distal cell. Leaves falcate-secund, the apices often pointing toward the substrate, ovate-lanceolate, 1-2.1 mm long, gradually acuminate, ± concave, the acumen typically channelled, shortly rounded to the insertion; margins subentire to serrulate at apex, entire below, plane or irregularly and narrowly incurved; costa double, ± diverging throughout, unequal, ending 1/4-1/3(-½) the leaf length, sometimes very weak or almost absent, not projecting at apex; cells linear, subflexuose, smooth, thin- to firm-walled, porose or not, 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 with flexuose apices, lanceolate, ca. 1.3 mm long, gradually long-acuminate, ± concave; margins serrulate above, entire below, plane; costa none; cells linear, subflexuose, very thick-walled, porose, becoming shorter and broader in a broad band below, colored across the insertion. Setae elongate, smooth throughout, reddish, 1.4-1.8 cm long, ± flexuose, curved at extreme apex; capsules horizontal to pendent, cylindric, 1.3-2 mm long; exothecial cells subquadrate, collenchymatous; annulus and operculum not seen; exostome teeth reddish brown, not or scarcely bordered, on the front surface with a median furrow with a zig-zag line down it, the plates cross-striolate below, ± smooth above, slightly trabeculate at back, smooth; endostome with a fairly high, smooth basal membrane, segments finely roughened, keeled, not perforate, with baffle-like crosswalls, ca. as long as the teeth, cilia none. Spores spherical, finely roughened, 11-14 µm diam. Calyptrae not seen.
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Discussion
2. Hookeriopsis luteorufescens (Besch.) A. Jaeger, Ber. Thätigk. St. Gallischen Naturwiss. Ges. 1875-76: 364. 1877; Hookeria luteo-rufescens Besch., Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot. VI, 3: 241. 1876. Plate 21, figures 8-15 Hookeriopsis obsoletinervis Thér., Mem. Soc. Cub. Hist. Nat. “Felipe Poey” 14: 368. 1940. Discussion. Hookeriopsis luteorufescens is recognized by its relatively short costa and falcate-secund leaves. It is uncomfortably close to H. leiophylla, and indeed the two may eventually prove to be synonymous when additional collections are available. It is tentatively retained on the basis of somewhat longer, broader, falcate-secund leaves. It is suspicious that the two are sympatric in Puerto Rico. Hookeriopsis luteorufescens is most likely confused in the field with the falcate form of Trachyxiphium guadalupense. However, H. luteorufescens is somewhat larger and often redder. Microscopically it is immediately distinguished by the shorter costa and serrulate leaf apices.
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Distribution
Range. Cuba, Hispaniola (Haiti), Puerto Rico, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique; on rocks and tree roots, in humid forests, at 1000-1800 m.
Cuba South America| Haiti South America| Guadeloupe South America| Dominica South America| Puerto Rico South America| Martinique South America|