Jaegerina scariosa (Lorentz) Arzeni

  • Authority

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

  • Family

    Pterobryaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Jaegerina scariosa (Lorentz) Arzeni

  • Description

    Species Description - Plants medium-sized, in green to golden, mostly lax, epiphytic colonies. Primary stems creeping, to ca. 4 cm long, filiform, rarely if ever emerging from leaf axils, turning ca. 90° and becoming the upright secondary stem (stipe), the creeping stem continuing by a bud from near the base of the stipe, secondary stems erect, to 2.5(-4) cm long but mostly 1-1.5 cm long, mostly simple, laxly turgid-foliate, not complanate-foliate; in cross-section with 3-5 rows of small thick-walled cells surrounding larger firm-walled cells, central strand none; paraphyllia none; pseudoparaphyllia filamentous, numerous; axillary hairs with 1-2 short brown basal cells and 2-3 elongate hyaline distal cells. Primary stem leaves appressed, oblong-ovate, ca. 0.4 mm long, concave; costa none; cells long-hexagonal, thick-walled; alar cells scarcely differentiated. Secondary stem leaves little altered when dry, wide-spreading to squarrose, lanceolate-ovate to broadly ovate, 1.1-1.8(-2.3) mm long, abruptly short-acuminate, concave; margins subentire or more often serrulate above, entire below, plane throughout or narrowly recurved near midleaf; costa variable on a single stem, slender, short and double or single and extending as high as 2/3 the leaf length; cells linear-flexuose, smooth, thick-walled and porose throughout, yellowed at the insertion; alar cells scarcely differentiated, with only a few subquadrate ones in extreme angles. Asexual propagula of gemmae common in leaf axils on short stalks, clustered, 6-8-celled, uniseriate, germinating from one or both ends, the germination filament coarsely papillose. Dioicous. [Sporo-phytes not known from the West Indies; description based on Brazilian material.] Perichaetia conspicuous; leaves erect, oblong-lanceolate, 2.3-3 mm long, long-acuminate, concave, plicate; margins serrulate above, entire below, plane; costa short and double or single but ending well below midleaf; cells linear, smooth, thick-walled, porose, becoming shorter, broader, and yellow in a wide band across the insertion. Setae short, smooth or roughened below, reddish, 3-4 mm long, curved; capsules exserted, erect and symmetric, short-cylindric, 1-1.5 mm long; exothecial cells subquadrate to irregularly hexagonal, firm-walled; annulus not differentiated; operculum conic-rostrate, ca. 0.6 mm long; peristome deeply inserted below the mouth and not or scarcely projecting from the urn, pale, exostome teeth ± smooth, perforate; endostome apparently lacking. Spores spherical, finely papillose, 20-28 µm diam. Calyptrae cucullate, naked, slightly roughened.

  • Discussion

    1. Jaegerina scariosa (Lorentz) Arzeni, Amer. Midl. Naturalist 52; 12. 1954; Meteorium scariosum Lorentz, Moosstudien 151. 1864; Garovciglia scariosa (Lorentz) Midl. Hal. in Broth., Hedwigia 34: 128. 1895; Pterobryopsis scariosa (Lorentz) M. Fleisch., Hedwigia 45: 60. 1905; Jaegerinopsis scariosa (Lorentz) Broth, in Engl. & Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenfam. 1(3): 791. 1906. Plate 56, figures 1-9 Garovaglia ulei Midl. Hal. in Broth., Hedwigia 34: 128. 1895; Pterobryopsis ulei (Midl. Hal.) M. Fleisch., Hedwigia 45: 60. 1905; Jaegerinopsis ulei (Midl. Hal.) Broth, in Engl. & Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenfam. 1(3): 791. 1906. Jaegerinopsis squarrosa E. Britton, Bryologist 21: 48. 1918; Jaegerinopsis cubensis E. Britton, Bryologist 21: 48. 1918, nom. nud. in syn. Discussion. Jaegerina scariosa is recognized by its ovate, wide-spreading to squarrose leaves on simple, erect secondary stems. It differs from J. guatemalensis in its relatively broader leaves with shorter apices and a weaker costa. It is more likely to be confused with an immature, unbranched Pterobryon or Pireella, but the weaker costa will differentiate it. Argent (1973) expanded the range of J. scariosa to include west tropical Africa (Cameroon, Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria, Central African Republic), by the inclusion of J. brevicuspis Broth. & P. de la Varde in P. de la Varde and J. cameruniae (Broth.) Wijk & Margad, in its synonymy. Mitten (1869) erroneously treated this species as Pterobryon brasiliense (Hornsch.) Mitt. However, the type of that name has proven to be a Squamidium (Allen & Crosby, 1986b).

  • Distribution

    Range. Florida and Louisiana, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela, Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil, Africa; Cuba, Hispaniola (Dominican Republic), Puerto Rico; growing on trunks of trees, usually in open forests or along roads, at 200-1000 m.

    United States of America North America| Guatemala Central America| Costa Rica South America| Panama Central America| Venezuela South America| Bolivia South America| Paraguay South America| Brazil South America| Africa| Cuba South America| Dominican Republic South America| Puerto Rico South America|