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Published In: Botaniska Notiser 1865(7): 126. 1865. (Bot. Not.) Name publication detail
 

Project Name Data (Last Modified On 1/3/2014)
Acceptance : Accepted
Project data     (Last Modified On 1/3/2014)
Discussion : Anomodon minor var. inaequalifolius is a small species with broadly rounded, entire leaves that
are erect-imbricate and not or scarcely contorted when dry. This taxon was synonymized with
A. minor var. minor by Granzow-de la Cerda (1997). Although the Central American material clearly
belongs within A. minor, it differs from the typical variety in its smaller size, more consistently equitant
leaves that at base are broader on one side than the other, and most importantly in the absence of
a stem central strand. As noted by Iwatsuki (1963) and Granzow-de la Cerda (1997), A. minor var. inaequalifolius
is very similar to the Asian species A. planatus Mitt. and A. integerrimus Mitt. Iwatsuki
(1963) treated these Asian species as A. minor subsp. integerrimus.
The hyaline hair-pointed leaves of A. rostratus with strongly recurved leaf margins distinguish it
from A. minor var. inaequalifolius. Anomodon attenuatus differs from A. minor var. inaequalifolius
in its larger size, curved, often stoloniform-attenuate branches, and acute, apiculate, sparsely serrulate
leaves that are homomallous when dry. Anomodon thraustus Müll. Hal., an Asian species disjunctly
present in Mexico, is similar to A. minor var. inaequalifolius in size and in having broadly
rounded, entire leaves that are stiffly erect when dry. Unlike A. minor var. inaequalifolius, however,
its leaf apices are fragile and often broken. In addition, its intact leaves differ from those of A. minor
var. inaequalifolius in being more narrow above and in having shorter costae (2/3–3/4 the leaf length)
that are completely obscured above by densely papillose laminal cells.
The aspect of A. minor var. inaequalifolius when dry is so distinctive that with experience it can
be readily identified, but the species also has several features that help in its recognition. One peculiar
feature is found in the basal juxtacostal cells near the leaf insertions, and may be correlated with
its complanate leaves that are often infolded at the base on one side. In most leaves these cells are
strongly dimorphic, with the cells on the infolded sided long-rectangular to elongate and especially
thick-walled, while the cells on the other side are rectangular to subquadrate and only moderately
thickened. Another distinctive feature of A. minor is the tendency for its leaves below the middle to
be bistratose in several rows along the costa.
Illustrations : Bartram (1949, Pl. 148 A–C).
Habitat : On limestone bluffs and tree bark; 1100–1737 m.
Distribution in Central America : GUATEMALA. Huehuetenango: Sharp 4857 (FH). COSTA RICA. Heredia: Crosby 3870A (MO).
World Range : Central America.

 

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Plants small in dull, dark green mats. Primary stems creeping, irregularly branched; leaves reduced,
0.4 mm long, well spaced, scale-like, oblong-ligulate from an ovate base, wide-spreading to
squarrose at tips, cells more or less smooth below, densely papillose above; rhizoids red brown, in
clusters at abaxial side of leaf insertions, not or weakly and irregularly branched. Secondary stems
erect-ascending, to 2 cm long, irregularly branched; cross section with sclerodermis of 2–5 rows of
small, red brown, thick-walled cells, cortical cells enlarged, yellow to hyaline, firm- or thick-walled,
central strand absent; paraphyllia and pseudoparaphyllia absent. Secondary stem leaves erect-imbricate
when dry, spreading to widely spreading, complanate when wet, oblong-ligulate from an ovate base,
0.8–1.4 mm long, rounded to rounded-obtuse, not apiculate, at base one side narrow, margins broadly
incurved, the other side wide, margins plane, weakly decurrent; margins papillose-crenulate; costae
single, ending well below the apex, yellow, often branched above, channeled on ventral surface, upper
dorsal costal cells elongate, often seriate papillose, in cross section cells homogeneous, thick-walled;
juxtacostal cells in lower part of leaf bistratose, upper cells unistratose with occasional, scattered
bistratose patches, quadrate, oblate, or irregularly hexagonal, 5–10 μm, densely pluripapillose by
thick, branched, or C-shaped papillae, juxtacostal cells near the insertion on one side short-rectangular,
quadrate, or oblate, 4–10 papillose, on the other long-rectangular, to 20 μm long, smooth, not porose.
Dioicous. Sporophytes unknown.

 

 

 
 
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