Pilotrichum husnotii Schimp. ex Besch.
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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 relatively robust but slender, in ± lustrous, yellow-green to golden-brown, tangled patches. Stems creeping, with the leaves eroded, the primary branches pendent, 6-15 cm long, usually 10-12 cm long, usually producing indeterminate, attenuate branches, regularly and distantly bipinnate; in cross-section with 5_8 rows of small thick-walled small-lumened colored cells surrounding somewhat larger thick-walled cells, central strand none; pseudoparaphyllia foliose; axillary hairs 2-celled, with a short brown basal cell and an elongate hyaline distal cell. Secondary branch leaves fairly crowded, erect when dry, erect-spreading when moist, ovate to oblong-ovate, 0.6-1.6 mm long, gradually to ± abruptly acute to short-acuminate, slightly concave, short-decurrent; margins serrulate above, crenulate below or throughout, plane throughout; costa double, unequal, ± divergent throughout or ± parallel in upper ½, ending 2/3-9/10 the leaf length, with a low crest 1-2(-3) cells high; cells rounded-oblong, smooth to low-prorulose, thick-walled, the walls often wider than the lumina, porose, apical cells mostly not differentiated, becoming shorter toward the basal margins, becoming rectangular, thin-walled, and colored toward the insertion and decurrencies, alar cells not differentiated. Asexual propagula rarely produced (fide Crosby, 1969), not seen. Dioicous. Perichaetia conspicuous, on secondary (determinate) branches; leaves erect, oblong-lanceolate, 1.3-2 mm long, gradually acuminate; margins subentire throughout, plane to erect; costa double, sometimes the two forks fused below, unequal, divergent throughout or ± parallel above, ending 1/3-3/4 the leaf length, not crested; cells rounded-oblong, smooth, thick-walled, porose, becoming rectangular, thin-walled, and colored at the insertion. Setae short, stout, smooth, reddish, 1.3-1.8 mm long, often curved; capsules exserted, erect, broadly cylindric, symmetric, ca. 3 mm long; exothecial cells subquadrate to short-rectangular, thin- to firm-walled, not collenchymatous; annulus not seen, operculum not seen; exostome teeth pale, narrowly triangular, narrowly bordered, not shouldered, on the front surface with a straight or obscurely zig-zag median line, papillose-spiculose throughout, slightly trabeculate at back; endostome pale, papillose-spiculose, with a low basal membrane, segments slender, keeled, not perforate, ca. as long as or shorter than the teeth, cilia none. Spores spherical to oval, finely papillose to almost smooth, 23-32 µm diam. Calyptrae not seen.
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Discussion
9. Pilotrichum husnotii Schimp. ex Besch., Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot. VI, 3: 221. 1876; Pilotrichella husnotii (Besch.) Schimp. ex Husn., Rev. Bryol. 3: 66. 1876; Callicosta husnotii (Besch.) Crosby, Bryologist 81: 436. 1978. Plate 29, figure 9; plate 33, figures 8-12 Pilotrichum henninieri Schimp. ex Besch., Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot. VI, 3: 221. 1876. Discussion. Pilotrichum husnotii is characterized by its production of slender, indeterminate branches. Other features of note include the relatively short, often divergent costa, and the thin-walled, colored cells across the insertion.
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Distribution
Range. Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique; growing on trees, in moist forests, at 400-1400 m.
Guadeloupe South America| Dominica South America| Martinique South America|