Sematophyllum subpinnatum (Brid.) E.Britton
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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
Sematophyllaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Plants smallish to medium-sized, in ± dull, golden-green, often dense mats. Stems creeping, to ca. 3 cm long, freely but irregularly branched, the branches often ascending, short, usually <1 cm long, blunt, curved; in cross-section with 2-3 rows of small thick-walled cells surrounding large thin-walled cells, central strand absent; pseudoparaphyllia foliose; axillary hairs with a single rectangular brown basal cell and 3-4 elongate hyaline distal cells. Stem and branch leaves similar, mostly homomallous, ovate to oblong-ovate, 0.75-1.2 mm long, acute to abruptly short-acuminate, ± concave; margins entire, reflexed above, more so when dry, plane below; costa short and double or commonly absent; cells long-rhomboidal, 6-12:1, smooth, firm- to thick-walled, mostly not or only weakly porose, becoming shorter in the apex, rhomboidal to rounded-rhomboidal, 2-3(-4): 1; alar cells enlarged but not conspicuously inflated, colored across the insertion, oval to oblong, relatively small for the genus, usually not more than 2-3 X larger than the quadrate cells above them. Asexual propagula rare (see Galloway et al., 1996). Autoicous. Perichaetial leaves erect, oblong-ovate, 1-1.25 mm long, gradually acuminate; margins entire to subserrulate, plane; costa mostly none; cells long-rhomboidal, smooth, thick-walled, ± porose, becoming rectangular in the acumen, becoming long-rectangular and colored toward the insertion; alar cells not differentiated. Setae elongate, smooth, orange to reddish brown, 0.5-1 cm long, straight or curved at base when dry; capsules erect to suberect, symmetric or subasymmetric, short-cylindric, 1-1.5 mm long, often strongly constricted below the mouth when dry; exothecial cells subquadrate, strongly collenchy-matous, becoming somewhat smaller, oblate and evenly firm-walled in 4-6 rows at the mouth; annulus not differentiated; operculum somewhat obliquely long-rostrate, shorter than the urn; exostome teeth strongly triangular, shouldered, strongly bordered, on the front surface with a zig-zag median line, cross-striolate below, coarsely papillose above, trabeculate at back; endostome with a high basal membrane, segments smooth, keeled, not or very narrowly perforate, almost as long as the teeth, cilia none or rudimentary. Spores spherical, finely papillose, 15-23 µm diam. Calyptrae cucullate, naked, smooth.
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Discussion
1. Sematophyllum subpinnatum (Brid.) E. Britton, Bryologist 21: 28. 1918; Leskea subpinnata Brid., Muscol. Recent. Suppl. 2: 54. 1812; Hypnum subpinnatum (Brid.) Arn., Mém. Soc. Linn. Paris 5: 302. 1826, non Lindb. in Hartm., Handb. Skand. Fl. ed. 9, 2: 13. 1864, hom, illeg. [= Rhytidiadelphus squarrosus (Hedw.) Wamst.], nec Hampe, Flora 64: 436. 1881, hom, illeg. [=Thuidium subpinnatum Broth.]. Plate 147, figures 1-8 Hypnum caespitosum Sw., Prodr. 142. 1788, nom. invai; Leskea caespitosa Sw., Fl. Ind. Occid. 3: 1807. 1806, horn, illeg., non Hedw., Sp. Musc. Frond. 233. 1801 [= Acroporium caespitosum (Hedw.) W. R. Buck]; Sematophyllum caespitosum [Sw.] Mitt., J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 12: 479. 1869; Rhaphidostegium caespitosum (Mitt.) Besch., Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot. VI, 3: 247. 1876. Hypnum loxense Hook, in Kunth, Syn. Pl. 1: 62. 1822; Sematophyllum loxense (Hook.) Mitt., J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 12: 479. 1869; Rhaphidostegium loxense (Hook.) A. Jaeger, Ber. Thätigk. St. Gallischen Natur-wiss. Ges. 1876-77: 390. 1878. ? Rhaphidostegium caespitosum subsp. coelophyllum Besch., Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot. VI, 3: 247. 1876; Rhynchostegiella cavifolia Schimp. ex Besch., Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot. VI, 3: 247. 1876, nom. nud. in syn.; Aptychus cavifolius Müll. Hal., Hedwigia 37: 256. 1898; Sematophyllum caespitosum subsp. coelophyllum (Besch.) Wijk & Margad., Taxon 8: 74. 1959. Rhaphidostegium cespitans Schimp. ex Besch., Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot. VI, 3: 246. 1876. Aptychus aurantius Müll. Hal., Hedwigia 37: 257. 1898; Rhaphidostegium aurantium (Müll. Hal.) Paris, Index Bryol. Suppl. 295. 1900; Sematophyllum aurantium (Müll. Hal.) Broth, in Engl., Nat. Pflanzenfam., ed. 2, 11: 432. 1925. Aptychus cespitosulus Müll. Hal., Hedwigia 37: 256. 1898; Rhaphidostegium cespitosulum (Müll. Hal.) Paris, Index Bryol. Suppl. 295. 1900; Sematophyllum cespitosulum (Müll. Hal.) Broth, in Engl., Nat. Pflanzenfam., ed. 2, 11: 432. 1925. Aptychus virescentifolius Müll. Hal., Hedwigia 37: 257. 1898; Rhaphidostegium virescentifolium (Müll. Hal.) Paris, Index Bryol. Suppl. 298. 1900. Discussion. Sematophyllum subpinnatum. long called S. caespitosum (cf. Buck, 1983b), is not nearly as variable or problematic as previous authors (especially Dixon, 1920) have stated. Most specimens are immediately recognizable with a dissecting microscope or hand-lens by small plants with curved branches (when dry) and leaves that are homomallous and with margins strongly reflexed almost throughout, except at the base. The reflexed margins give the leaves a bordered appearance at low magnification. Microscopically the leaves are ovate with acute or abruptly short-acuminate apices; the apical cells are short and firm-walled; the alar cells are not inflated but enlarged and colored. Although differing in aspect from Meiothecium boryanum, the leaves and areolation are similar. However, in Meiothecium the leaf margins are recurved at the very base rather than plane as in S. subpinnatum. The very different peristomial structure is unmistakable. Sematophyllum subpinnatum differs from S. steyermarkii in the leaves ovate rather than more or less obovate, but most strikingly by leaf margins entire rather than serrulate above. Sematophyllum subpinnatum has long been confused with S. galipense, which differs by a saxicolous habitat, more or less turgid plants, larger, acuminate leaves with longer apical cells, and larger alar cells. Although usually placed in synonymy with Sematophyllum subpinnatum, and a name often used in the West Indies, S. kegelianum (Müll. Hal.) Mitt., described from Surinam, may be a different species. Its leaves are suborbicular and mucronate. Hypnum kegelianum var. ß. tenue Müll. Hal. (Syn. Musc. Frond. 2: 325. 1851), described from Brazil, Puerto Rico, and Hispaniola, is probably synonymous with S. subpinnatum, but I have seen no material. The tentative synonymy of Rhaphidostegium caespitosum subsp. coelophyllum Besch., included under S. subpinnatum, is based on the description alone; no authentic material has been seen. The only specimen that I have seen so-named (Duss 1246, NY) is S. galipense. Thériot’s (1944: 20) report of Pterogoniopsis cylindrica Müll. Hal. (of Paraguay and northern Argentina) from Haiti can be referred to S. subpinnatum.
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Distribution
Range. United States (Florida and Louisiana), Mexico, Central America, all but southernmost South America, sub-Saharan Africa, probably also in Asia and Australia; Bahamas (New Providence), Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola (Haiti and Dominican Republic), Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands (Tortola), Saba, St. Kitts, Nevis, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, probably on other islands as well; growing mostly on tree trunks and rotten logs, rarely on rock or soil, in mesic to humid forests, often toward the canop
Mexico North America| Central America| South America| Asia| Australia Oceania| Africa| Bahamas South America| Cuba South America| Jamaica South America| Dominican Republic South America| Haiti South America| Virgin Islands South America| Puerto Rico South America| Saba South America| Saint Kitts and Nevis South America| Guadeloupe South America| Dominica South America| Martinique South America|