Tropicos | Name - !Homaliodendron flabellatum (Sm.) M. Fleisch.

Cent. Amer. Moss > Neckeraceae > Homaliodendron > Homaliodendron flabellatum

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!Homaliodendron flabellatum (Sm.) M. Fleisch.

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Project Name Data (Last Modified On 1/29/2014)

Acceptance : Accepted

Project data (Last Modified On 1/29/2014)

Discussion:

Homaliodendron flabellatum is a medium-sized to robust species with strongly stipitate second-ary stems that arise from well-developed primary stems or stolons. In Central America the species is found only at high elevations on tree trunks and vines. In other parts of its range, however, it occurs on rocks. The stems of H. flabellatum are complanate-foliate and irregularly bi- or tripinnately branched. Its leaves are smooth whether wet or dry, asymmetric, broadly inflexed on one side, and coarsely, deeply dentate at the apex. The remarkable marginal teeth in H. flabellatum are multicellular and sometimes consist of eight rows of cells. The branch leaves are often obovate or oblong-spathulate. The costae in H. flabellatum are slender, tapered to the apex, and are often spurred below. Its leaf cells are smooth, often porose below, and rounded-rhomboidal to hexagonal above. The sporophytes of H. flabellatum are unknown in Central America; the species appears to reproduce asexually by means of deciduous, flagelliform branchlets.

Homaliodendron piniforme is a smaller species than H. flabellatum; it also differs in having ser-rate leaf margins. The serrations on the leaf margins in H. piniforme are unicellular. In the field H. flabellatum can be confused with robust species of Porotrichum. The Central American species of that genus, however, differ from H. flabellatum in having a stem central strand, fusiform upper leaf cells, and serrulate to serrate leaf margins.

The type collection of Hookeria flabellata was sent to Smith by Dickson and attributed to the West Indies. Dixon (1930) indicated a duplicate of the type in the Hooker herbarium (now at BM) bears the additional information “St. Vincent’s ?”, and so questioned the origin of the specimen. In this respect Mitten’s (1875) comments on Dickson’s localities are germane: “Dickson obtained spec-imens of mosses from the voyages of trading vessels, and localities were then not so precisely men-tioned, so that any gathered during the voyage were liable to be reported as if gathered in the country the vessel had returned from; and there are some of the species which Dickson in this manner pro-cured, of which the native country has yet to be discovered.”

Illustrations: Smith (1808, Pl. 23 2); Hooker (1818, Pl. 69, as Neckera dendroides); Dozy and Molkenboer (1863, Pls. 178 & 180); Fleischer (1908, Fig. 158, as Homaliodendron javanicum); Bar-tram (1933a, Fig. 134); Bartram (1939, Pl. 18 306); Bartram (1949, Fig. 126 C–D); Gangulee (1976, Fig. 703, as Homaliodendron ligulaefolium; Fig. 704, as Homaliodendron scalpellifolium); Ninh (1984, Fig. 10, as Homaliodendron ligulaefolium; Fig. 11, as Homaliodendron scalpellifolium; Fig. 15, as Homaliodendron squarrulosum; Figs. 17–19); Enroth (1989, Figs. 8 & 9); Noguchi (1989, Fig. 316, as H. scalpellifolium); Sharp et al. (1994, Fig. 562); Duarte Bello (1997, Pl. 210); Buck (1998, Pl. 45 10–19); Gradstein et al. (2001, Fig. 216 A–D). Figure 88.

Habitat: On bark, trunks, and branches of trees and on vines; 1415–3000 m.

Distribution in Central America:

GUATEMALA. Zacapa: Steyermark 43229 (F, FH, MO, NY). HONDURAS. Francisco Morazán: Richards 3537a (F); Lempira: Allen 11333 (MO); Olancho: Allen 12832 (MO). COSTA RICA. Heredia: Hatheway & Hatheway 1713 (US); San José: Griffin & Morales B 107 (F, MO, NY). PANAMA. Bocas del Toro: Gómez et al. 21958 (MO).

World Range: Mexico; Central America; Caribbean; Western Indian Ocean; China, Eastern Asia; Indian Subcontinent, Indo-China, Malesia; Australia; Southwestern and North-Central Pacific.

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Plants medium-sized to robust, 3–10 cm high, stipitate-frondose, flattened, forming pale green or yellowish green, lax tufts. Stolons creeping; rhizoids smooth, reddish brown, densely present on stolons and at the base of stipitate stems; leaves appressed, widely spaced, evenly foliate, triangular-lanceolate. Secondary stems erect, stipitate, irregularly bi- or tripinnate, complanate-foliate, at times flagellate-attenuate; secondary stems in cross section with sclerodermis of 3–6 rows of small, thick-walled cells, cortical cells enlarged, firm-walled, central strand absent; paraphyllia absent; pseudopa-raphyllianarrowly foliose to filamentous. Stipe leaves erect-spreading from an appressed base, evenly foliate, triangular to oblong-triangular, 1.5–2.0 mm long, broadly acuminate; margins entire to suben-tire below, serrate above; costae single, ending above midleaf. Stem leaves 2–4 mm long, branch leaves 1.0–1.5 mm long, both flattened, spreading to wide-spreading, smooth when dry or wet, broadly oblong-ovate, oblong-ligulate, obovate, or oblong-spathulate, asymmetric, broadly rounded and coarsely toothed at apex, teeth consisting of 4–8 rows of rhomboid cells, terminal tooth usually longer than the lower teeth, narrowly decurrent, straight at the insertion; margins inflexed on one side below, entire to subentire below; costae slender, often spurred below, tapering and occasionally forked above, reaching 1/2–2/3 the leaf length; cells smooth, apical cells rounded-rhomboid to hex-agonal, or shortly fusiform, 12–20 µm long, firm- to thick-walled, occasionally porose, median cells oblong-rhomboidal, linear-rhomboidal, or long-rectangular, 30–50 µm long, thick-walled, porose, basal juxtacostal cells linear-fusiform, thick- to firm-walled, porose, basal marginal cells rectangular to subquadrate; alar cells rectangular to oblong-rectangular, weakly differentiated, cells across the in-sertions porose. Asexual reproduction by microphyllous branches. Dioicous. Sporophyte unknown in the Neotropics, description from Ninh (1984) and Enroth (1989). Perichaetia to 2 mm long; leaves ovate at base, ligulate to long lanceolate and spreading above, dentate at apex. Setae 1.5–4.5 mm long, smooth throughout or smooth below and mammillose above. Capsules ovoid-cylindrical, 1.5–3.0 mm long; exothecial cells near mouth subquadrate, thick-walled, short-rectangular, thick-walled below; stomata on neck; opercula conic, obliquely short-rostrate; annuli weakly differentiated; peristome diplolepideous; exostome teeth linear-lanceolate, 0.6–0.7 mm long, papillose throughout; endostome basal membranes short, segments similar to exostome teeth in shape and size, cilia not noted. Spores 14–20 µm, papillose. Calyptrae cucullate, sparsely hairy, smooth.