Entodontopsis leucostega (Brid.) W.R.Buck & Ireland

  • Authority

    Ireland, Robert R. & Buck, William R. 1994. Stereophyllaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 65: 1-49. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Stereophyllaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Entodontopsis leucostega (Brid.) W.R.Buck & Ireland

  • Type

    Type. Puerto Rico, Bertero s.n. (holotype, B).

  • Synonyms

    Leskea leucostega Brid., Stereophyllum leucostegum (Brid.) Mitt., Leskea longirostris Schwägr., Hypnum decorum Mitt., Stereophyllum decorum (Mitt.) Wijk & Margad., Hypnum peruvianum Mont., Stereophyllum peruvianum (Mont.) Mitt., Hypnum subflavum Hook.f. & Wilson, Stereophyllum subflavum (Hook.f. & Wilson) Müll.Hal., Hypnum saxatile Hook.f. & Wilson, Stereophyllum papilliferum Mitt., Entodontopsis papillifera (Mitt.) W.R.Buck & Ireland, Hypnum leptostegium Hampe, Stereophyllum leptostegium (Hampe) A.Jaeger, Stereophyllum pycnoblastum Müll.Hal., Stereophyllum perpusillum Müll.Hal., Stereophyllum auriculatum A.Gepp, Stereophyllum orcuttii Cardot, Stereophyllum leucostegum var. subflavescens M.Fleisch., Stereophyllum acuminatum Dixon & P.de la Varde

  • Description

    Species Description - Plants pale- to yellow-green, brownish green with age, in loose or dense, glossy mats. Stems complanate-foliate to subjulaceous, to 3 cm long, 1-3 mm wide, simple or irregularly and sparingly branched; axillary hairs with a single short brown basal cell and 3 elongate hyaline apical cells. Leaves lax to stiff, close to distant, erect-spreading, usually imbricate when dry, 1-2 mm long, 0.4-0.8 mm wide, ovate-lanceolate to oblong-ovate, flat or sometimes slightly concave, acuminate, rarely acute; margins plane or incurved below the middle, entire or serrulate near the apex; costa 1/2-3/4 the leaf length; cells smooth or minutely prorulose on dorsal surfaces, median cells 47-165 µm long, 7-9 pm wide; alar cells quadrate to short- rectangular, sometimes oblate, 14-33 pm long, 11-24 µm wide. Autoicous, usually fruiting. Setae yellowish to reddish brown, 0.5-0.8 cm long; capsules orange to reddish brown, inclined to cernuous, 0.8-1.5 mm long, ellipsoidal to ovoid, contracted below mouth when dry; opercula obliquely conic to short-rostrate, 0.2-0.5 mm long. Spores 15-27 pm in diameter.

  • Discussion

    This is by far the most common species of Entodontopsis in Latin America. It is characterized by the usually complanate-foliate stems with erect-spreading, narrow, acuminate leaves, differentiated alar cells more numerous on one side of costa than the other, and inclined to cernuous capsules.

    It is easy to confuse with Entodontopsis panamensis when sterile, but that species has abruptly acute to acuminate leaves instead of gradually acuminate leaves like E. leucostega. There is also a tendency for plants of E. panamensis to have denser, more closely arranged leaves that are often homomallous when dry.

    These differences are not very great and it is possible that the two species will eventually prove to be conspecific but we are reluctant at this time to synonymize them until more material of E. panamensis is available.

    After examining a large number of specimens of Entodontopsis and seeing a considerable amount of variation we have concluded that E. papilliferum, that we recognized as a distinct species earlier (Buck & Ireland 1985), is a synonym of E. leucostega.

  • Distribution

    Very common; Mexico to Bolivia, Brazil and Argentina (Fig. 10); Africa; India. On tree trunks and branches, decayed stumps and logs, exposed tree roots or sometimes on limestone or calcareous sandstone boulders and cliffs, usually in mesic habitats at low elevations from sea level to 300 m, rarely to 2000 m.

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