Callicostella belangeriana (Besch.) A.Jaeger

  • Authority

    Buck, William R. 1998. Pleurocarpous mosses of the West Indies. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 82: 1-400.

  • Family

    Pilotrichaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Callicostella belangeriana (Besch.) A.Jaeger

  • Description

    Species Description - Plants small and slender, in ± lustrous, pale-green or less often golden, mostly thin mats. Stems creeping, to ca. 4 cm long, subpinnately to irregularly branched, complanate-foliate; in crosssection with 2-3 rows of small firm-walled cells surrounding larger ± thin-walled cells, central strand none; pseudoparaphyllia none; axillary hairs 2-celled, with a short brown basal cell and an elongate hyaline distal cell. Leaves contorted when dry, the lateral ones erect- to wide-spreading, the dorsal and ventral ones erect, lateral and dorsal leaves oblong-lanceolate, sometimes broadly so, 0.85-1.4 mm long, typically gradually (long-)acuminate, sometimes ± abruptly short-acuminate, ± asymmetric; margins obscurely bordered by 1-3 rows of smooth cells, mostly coarsely and irregularly serrate above or almost to base, with swollen and bifid teeth, serrulate below, plane; costa double, ending 3/4-4/5 the leaf length, usually projecting at apex by (0-) 1-2 spines, otherwise usually smooth; cells oval to hexagonal, mostly 2-4:1, usually with a single papilla over each lumen, rarely smooth, thin- to firm-walled, becoming long-rectangular, smooth, firm-walled, and ± porose toward insertion; alar cells not differentiated; ventral leaves pale, similar in size, shape, and apex to lateral and dorsal leaves, with margins less serrate, often only serrulate, costa smooth at apex and ending near midleaf, with upper leaf cells long-hexagonal to sublinear, smooth, thin-walled. Asexual propagula not seen. Autoicous and/or synoicous. Perichaetia small, inconspicuous, on mature stems; leaves few, pale, lanceolate, 0.7-1 mm long, gradually and broadly acuminate; margins serrulate to coarsely serrate in acumen, entire below, plane; costa double, ending ca. 2/3 the leaf length, the apical 2-3 cells often projecting; cells as in vegetative leaves but mostly smooth. Setae elongate, mostly roughened at apex, sometimes ½ the length, sometimes ± smooth throughout, reddish, 0.6-1 cm long, flexuose, curved at extreme apex; capsules horizontal to pendent, short-cylindric, 0.75-1.5 mm long, often with a roughened neck; exothecial cells subquadrate, ± collenchymatous; annulus none (but see operculum description); operculum conic-long-rostrate, the basal ca. 12 rows of cells pale, thin-walled, with nodosely thickened inner walls; exostome teeth reddish, narrowly triangular, narrowly bordered, on the front surface with a broad pale median furrow with a zig-zag line down it, the plates cross-striolate below, occasionally with overlying papillae at midtooth, coarsely papillose above, somewhat trabeculate at back, finely and densely papillose; endostome with a medium-high, finely papillose basal membrane, segments densely papillose-spiculose, keeled, perforate, with baffle-like crosswalls, cilia none. Spores spherical, finely papillose, 8.5-11 µm diam. Calyptrae mitrate, covering the operculum and apex of urn, irregularly lobed at base, subplicate, naked, roughened ± throughout, more conspicuously so at apex.

  • Discussion

    2. Callicostella belangeriana (Besch.) A. Jaeger, Ber. Thätigk. St. Gallischen Naturwiss. Ges. 1875-76: 353. 1877; Hookeria belangeriana Besch., Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot. VI, 3: 233. 1876; Schizomitrium belangerianum (Besch.) W. R. Buck, Brittonia 39: 221. 1987. Plate 22, figures 13-20 ? Hookeria guadelupense Spreng. ex Brid., Bryol. Univ. 2: 351. 1827, nom. nud. in syn., non (Brid.) Müll. Hal., Syn. Musc. Frond. 2: 212. 1851 [=Trachyxiphium guadalupense (Brid.) W. R. Buck]. ? Hookeria depressula Müll. Hal. ex Besch., Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot. VI, 3: 233. 1876, horn, illeg., non Müll. Hal., J. Mus. Godeffroy 3(6): 77. 1874 [= Chaetomitrium depressum Mitt.]; Callicostella depressula A. Jaeger, Ber. Thätigk. St. Gallischen Naturwiss. Ges. 1875-76: 352. 1877. Type not found at BM or GOET. Hookeria hahniana Besch., Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot. VI, 3: 234. 1876; Callicostella hahniana (Besch.) A. Jaeger, Ber. Thäigk. St. Gallischen Naturwiss. Ges. 1875-76: 353. 1877; Schizomitrium hahnianum (Besch.) H. A. Crum, Bryologist 87: 208. 1984. Hookeria herminieri Schimp. ex Besch., Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot. VI, 3: 233. 1876; Callicostella herminieri (Besch.) A. Jaeger, Ber. Thãtigk. St. Gallischen Naturwiss. Ges. 1875-76: 353. 1877, herminieri." Hookeria herminieri var. rubella Besch., Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot. VI, 3: 233. 1876; Callicostella herminieri var. rubella (Besch.) A. Jaeger, Ber. Thãtigk. St. Gallischen Naturwiss. Ges. 1875-76: 353. 1877; Hookeria rubella (Besch.) Schimp. ex Paris, Index Bryol. 584. 1895; Callicostella depressa var. rubella (Besch.) Wijk & Margad., Taxon 9: 50. 1960. Discussion. Callicostella belcingeriana is characterized by gradually acuminate leaves with coarsely and irregularly serrate margins; the costa ends in 1-2 spines. The species has been confused and synonymized with the common C depressa, but differs in both morphology and geographical distribution. Callicostella belcingeriana usually has elongate leaf apices, rather than a short, abruptly tapered one, and the costal apices have only 12 spines rather than a cluster of them. Additionally, the cells are somewhat longer (2-4:1 rather than 1-2:1) and the costa ends lower in the leaf; the perichaetial leaves are lanceolate rather than ovate-triangular; the setae are often shorter; and the calyptrae are rough throughout. Also, C. depressa, with minor exception, is Greater Antillean in distribution (except Puerto Rico), and C. belangeriana is common on Puerto Rico and in the Lesser Antilles. Callicostella belangeriana differs from C. colombica by its narrower leaf apices and smaller cells, but is similar in aspect. There is also the difference in sexuality (autoicous or synoicous rather than dioicous). Callicostella pallida differs in its rounded leaf apices and regularly serrate margins. Callicostella rivularis, which usually grows on moist, clayey soil or rock, has smooth cells and marginal teeth that are not swollen or bifid.

  • Distribution

    Range. Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands (St. Thomas. Tortilla), St. Kitts, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, St. Lucia; typically growing on rotten logs, rarely rock or soil, in humid forests, mostly from sea level to 500 m, sometimes to 1000 m.

    Puerto Rico South America| Virgin Islands South America| Saint Kitts and Nevis South America| Guadeloupe South America| Dominica South America| Martinique South America| Saint Lucia South America|