Meteorium pseudoteres 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
Meteoriaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Latin Diagnosis - Plantae dioicae robustae ± turgidae typicae sed non solum epipetricae. Folia ramorum lato-patentia oblongo-ovata profunde concava acumine excluso (2.75-)3-3.5 mm longa abrupte cus-pidato-capillacea, margine superiori incurvo sed non undulato, foliorum basi cordato-auriculata, auriculis valde undulatis; costa tenuis; cellulae subflexuoso-lineares ca. 15-20:1 valde incrassatae porosae 1(-2)-papillosae; cellulae alares vix diversae. Setae flavidae 6-7 mm longae ± flexuosae omnino asperae; capsulae erectae cylindricae ca. 2 mm longae; operculum obliquum rostratum ca. 1.5 mm longum. Typus: Jamaica. John Crow Peak, 5800-6000 ft, on trees, 2 Feb 1903, L. M. Underwood 714 (holotypus, NY; isotypus, NY).
Species Description - Plants robust, ± turgid, in dull, green to golden, often black-tinged in older parts, ± stiff, often extensive colonies. Stems mostly creeping, sometimes pendent, to ca. 30 cm long and mostly over 10 cm, when creeping densely and regularly pinnately branched with branches ca. 1-1.5 cm long, turgid, when pendent with branching irregular and more spaced, with somewhat longer branches, terete-foliate; in cross-section with 7-10 rows of small thick-walled cells surrounding larger thin-walled cells, central strand of small thin-walled cells; pseudoparaphyllia foliose, with cells papillose; axillary hairs with 2-3 oblate basal cells, the distalmost pale brown, the others hyaline, or all brownish, and 34 short rounded hyaline distal cells. Stem and branch leaves somewhat differentiated, the stem leaves erect-spreading, ovate-lanceolate, 4-5 mm long (including the acumen), gradually flexuose-hairpointed, upper leaf margins undulate, otherwise like branch leaves; branch leaves wide-spreading, oblong-ovate, (2.75-)3-3.5 mm long (excluding the acumen), abruptly hairpointed-cuspidate, the acumen 1-1.5 mm long, sometimes fragile, deeply concave, occasionally obscurely plicate when dry, cordate-auriculate at base, the auricles strongly undulate, narrowly decurrent; margins finely papillose-denticulate throughout, strongly incurved from ca. midleaf to base of the acumen, mostly plane below but undulate in the auricles; costa single, slender, ending somewhat above midleaf to almost at base of acumen, not projecting at apex; cells linear-subflexuose, ca. 15-20:1, with 1(-2) papillae/cell on both surfaces, very thick-walled, the lumina often narrower than the walls, porose, becoming longer and smooth in the acumen, becoming shorter, broader (but still with walls ± thicker than lumina), and more distinctly porose toward the insertion; alar cells scarcely differentiated except for short-rectangular cells all across the insertion. Asexual propagula not seen. Dioicous. Perichaetial leaves erect, broadly oblong-lanceolate, ± truncate with 1-2 coarse, multicellular teeth on either side of the acumen, long-cuspidate but not hairpointed; margins bluntly serrulate ± throughout, plane above, erect at base; costa single, ending well above midleaf; cells linear, smooth, firm-walled, porose. Setae elongate, roughened throughout but most strongly so toward middle, yellowish, 6-7 mm long, ± flexuose, from a densely crispate-hairy vaginula; capsules erect, symmetric, broadly cylindric, ca. 2 mm long; exothecial cells irregularly rounded, ± isodiametric, firm-walled; annulus apparently of small thick-walled oblate cells in 1-2 rows; operculum rostrate, somewhat oblique, ca. 1.5 mm long; peristome and spores not seen (only immature capsules seen). Calyptrae cucullate, densely golden crispate-hairy.
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Discussion
Discussion. Meteorium pseudoteres is characterized by robust, ± turgid plants, typically growing on rocks. The branch leaves are abruptly cuspidate-hairpointed, the leaf bases are undulate and cordate-auriculate, and the alar cells are scarcely differentiated. In appearance it mimics the Mexican M. teres Mitt., but in that species the leaves are concave-cucullate and cuspidate but not hairpointed, and the alar cells are differentiated in relatively large areas. Some confusion might be possible with M. deppei, but there the leaves are shorter and more gradually acuminate, with better alar development. However, rare large and turgid forms of M. deppei can be deceptively similar. However, M. pseudoteres can be told by the upper margins not at all undulate, the leaf base strongly undulate, and a virtual lack of alar differentiation.
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Distribution
Range. Eastern Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola (southeastern Haiti); growing most typically on rocks but also pendent from branches, presumably in humid forests, at 600-2000 m.
Cuba South America| Jamaica South America| Haiti South America|