Ceratolejeunea rubiginosa Steph.

  • Family

    Lejeuneaceae (Marchantiophyta)

  • Scientific Name

    Ceratolejeunea rubiginosa Steph.

  • Primary Citation

    Hepaticarum species novae VIII
    Hedwigia 34: 237. 1895

  • Type Specimens

    Specimen 1: Probable type -- C. Wright s.n.

  • Description

    Description: Plants reddish-brown when dry. Dorsal lobes asymmetrically ovate, somewhat falcate, margins entire to crenate or toothed on antical margin and leaf apex, apex rounded to sharply acute, plane; ocelli usually present, 2--5 in a line (i.e., adjacent ocelli joined along short axis) extending from leaf base into leaf midportion. Utriculate lobules occasionally present branch bases. Autoicous. Perianths obovoid, 4 keels forming triangular horns with tapered or inflated tips, horns crenuate, dorsal keel absent.

    Habitat and Distribution: Bark at base of living trees in humid, densely vegetated "islands" of subtropical forest (i.e., hammocks); 0--10 m; Fla.; Caribbean region, Central America

    Discussion: Ceratolejeunea rubiginosa is known from only one collection in the flora area (Small & Carter 1431, NY, 1904). Dauphin (2003) identified this specimen provisionally as C. ceratantha, which he differentiates from C. rubiginosa on the basis of ocelli in a broken line (i.e., ocelli separated by non-ocellate cells) rather than an unbroken line, and a leaf margin dentate only at the apex (as opposed to along the entire antical apex in C. rubiginosa). Plants in Small and Carter 1431 are depauperate, and ambiguous in their species affiliation. The antical leaf margin is only weakly dentate, sometimes is entire; ocelli are single or absent in some leaves, or may form a broken rather than a continuous line. On balance, the specimen appears to share more characters with C. rubiginosa.

  • Floras and Monographs

    Ceratolejeunea rubiginosa Steph.: [Article] Dauphin L, G. 2003. . Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 90: 1-86.