Drepanocladus

• Authority

  Sharp, Aaron J., et al. 1994. The Moss Flora of Mexico. Part Two: Orthotrichales to Polytrichales. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 69 (2)

• Family

  Campyliaceae

• Scientific Name

  Drepanocladus

• Description

  Genus Description - Plants generally robust, in extensive mats or deep tufts, green, yellow-green, or golden to brownish, rarely purplish-red, often ± glossy, mostly growing in wet places, sometimes submerged. Stems prostrate or erect-ascending, freely and irregularly branched to regularly pinnate (rarely nearly simple); pseudoparaphyllia at branch bases. Leaves generally crowded, nearly always strongly falcate-secund, ± concave, often striate or plicate, lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, slenderly long-acuminate, often ± decurrent and frequently auriculate at base; margins erect, entire or ± sermlate; costa single, ending near the leaf middle or extending into the subula, sometimes excurrent; cells mostly long-linear, smooth, sometimes ± thick-walled and porose throughout or only at base; cells at basal angles usually clearly differentiated, sometimes in excavate groups extending nearly to the costa, hyaline, thin-walled and inflated or sometimes colored and thick-walled, rarely scarcely differentiated. Perichaetial leaves erect, very long, slenderly long-acuminate, striate.

• Discussion

  The plants are usually freely branched, sometimes regularly pinnate and even attractively plumose. The leaves are falcate-secund, with alar cells, in some cases, abmptly enlarged and inflated. The traditional view of the genus is presented here, but the Mexican species could well be parceled out as Drepanocladus aduncus (Hedw.) Warnst., Warnstorfia exannulata (B.S.G.) Loeske, and Sanionia uncinata (Hedw.) Loeske.