Ceratolejeunea laetefusca (Austin) R.M.Schust.

Description

Description: Plants light to olive brown when dry. Dorsal lobes ovate, sometimes slightly falcate, margins entire, irregular or crenulate, rarely toothed, apex rounded, plane when dry; ocelli consistently present, 1-5 in cluster (i.e., ocelli adjacent along long axis) at leaf base. Utriculate lobules absent. Dioicous, rarely autoicous. Perianths ellipsoid, 4 keels forming smooth compressed, sharply-angled crests (horns absent), dorsal keel sometimes present as weak fold. Vegetative reproduction sometimes present, by caducous leaves or by plant regeneration from leaf margin cells.

Habitat and Distribution: Bark of living trees in evergreen forests in moist subtropical portions of se Coastal Plain; 0--10 m; Fla., Ga., La., Miss., S.C.; Caribbean Region, Central and South America.

Discussion: Ceratolejeunea laetefusca is the most common species of the genus in North America. It is rarely found with mature perianths, and sterile plants might be mistaken for a species of Cheilolejeunea. Careful observation of the hyaline papilla should resolve any confusion, however, because the papilla is proximal to the marginal tooth in Ceratolejeunea, but distal in Cheilolejeunea. Although C. guianensis has been reported from the U.S. by Fulford (1945), and rather tentatively by Dauphin (2003), no specimens observed for this study could be referred to C. guianensis. Dauphin (2003) differentiates C. guianensis from C. laetefusca by are the presence of flagelliform branches and leaves incurved when dry, but also states that these differences are not sufficient to separate the taxa.

Floras and Monographs

Ceratolejeunea laetefusca (Austin) R.M.Schust.: [Article] Dauphin L, G. 2003. . Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 90: 1-86.