Tropicos | Name - !Symphyodon imbricatifolius (Mitt.) S.P. Churchill

Cent. Amer. Moss > Daltoniaceae > Symphyodon > Symphyodon imbricatifolius

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!Symphyodon imbricatifolius (Mitt.) S.P. Churchill

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Project Name Data (Last Modified On 3/17/2014)

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Project data (Last Modified On 3/17/2014)

Discussion:

Symphyodon imbricatifolius is a small to medium-sized species that often grows as thin mats, with glossy, yellow green, irregularly branched plants and typically erect-appressed leaves. There are only a few collections of S. imbricatifolius from Central America, where it is found on tree trunks, branches, or rocks. Its rarity, however, may be due to difficulty in recognizing the species, since cap-sules are unknown from the region and there is nothing distinctive about its gametophytes to separate it from the Hypnaceae or Sematophyllaceae. Microscopically, the gametophytes exhibit a conspicu-ous suite of characters that, once known, help in recognizing the species: stem central strand absent; scale leaves around the branch buds; axillary hairs with two short, brown basal cells and three elongate, hyaline upper cells; stem leaves asymmetric, oblong to oblong-oval, bluntly acute, decurrent; upper leaf margins sharply serrate; costa short and double; upper leaf cells linear, often prorate; weakly devel-oped, firm-walled alar cells. Although its sporophytes are unknown in Central America they are, in comparison to all other Central American mosses, unique in having spinose capsules with spines as long as 110 µm.

In Central America the gametophytes of Symphyodon imbricatifolius could be mistaken for those of species of Isopterygium, Pseudotaxiphyllum,Taxiphyllum, Phyllodon, or Chryso-hypnum. All spe-cies of Isopterygium differ from S. imbricatifolius in having filamentous pseudoparaphyllia. The only species of Pseudotaxiphyllum in Central America (P. distichaceum) differs from S. imbricatifolius in having strongly flattened, cultriform leaves and numerous apical, twisted-vermiform asexual propag-ula. As noted by Buck and Ireland (1992), S. imbricatifolius is very similar to Taxiphyllum laevifolium (Mitt.) W. R. Buck in leaf shape, marginal toothing, and areolation. Taxiphyllum laevifolium differs from S. imbricatifolius in having foliose pseudoparaphyllia, non-decurrent leaves, and axillary hairs consisting of a single short, brown basal cell and a single elongate, hyaline cell. Phyllodon truncatu-lus is similar to S. imbricatifolius in aspect and leaf shape, but it differs in having a stem central strand, foliose pseudoparaphyllia, leaves with bifid marginal serrations, and leaf cells that are often seriate-papillose as well as prorate. All Central American Chryso-hypnum species differ from S. imbricati-folius in having foliose pseudoparaphyllia, a weakly developed stem central strand, acuminate leaves, and an autoicous sexual condition.

The name Taxiphyllum machrisianum was given in honor of “Mr. and Mrs. Maurice A. Machris” (Crum 1957), and so the correct form of that species name should be T. machrisiorum (McNeill 2006).

Illustrations: Crum (1957, Figs. 1–4); Steere (1982, Figs. 20–27); Ireland (1984, Figs. 15–22); Buck and Ireland (1992, Figs. 1–4); Sharp et al. (1994, Fig. 572); Churchill and Linares (1995, Fig.188 a–e); Buck (1998, Pl. 115); He and Snider (2000, Figs. 92–105); Gradstein et al. (2001, Fig. 215 F–K). Figure 239.

Habitat: On small trunks, branches, and shaded rocks; 1000–1800 m.

Distribution in Central America:

NICARAGUA. Granada: Danin 1-G (MO). COSTA RICA. Cartago: Crosby & Crosby 6075 (MO); Puntarenas: Lyon 230 (MO); San José: Kapelle & Gutiérrez MK1891 (U, vide Buck & Ireland 1992).

World Range: Mexico; Central America; Caribbean; Western and Northern South America, Brazil.

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Plants small to medium-sized, glossy, golden to yellowish green, in loose mats, at times pendent. Stems prostrate or ascending, 2–4 cm long, yellowish green when young, distinctly red with age, sim-ple, irregularly or subpinnately branched, at times filiform-attenuate, branches easily detached; stems in cross section with epidermis of 2–3 rows of small, thick-walled cells, cortical cells enlarged, thin-walled, central strand absent; paraphyllia absent; pseudoparaphyllia absent, scale leaves present; ax-illary hairs 5 cells long, basal 2 cells short-rectangular, reddish brown, upper 3 cells elongate, hya-line; rhizoids from small clusters of initials abaxial to the leaf insertions, smooth, not or sparsely and irregularly branched. Stem leaves appressed to erect or somewhat spreading, closely or somewhat dis-tantly spaced, oblong, oval-oblong, 1.0–1.3 mm long, concave, slightly asymmetric, obtuse to acute, shortly decurrent; margins irregularly serrate above, subentire below, often incurved on one side at base; costae short and double, extending to 1/4 the leaf length; cells smooth or prorate on dorsal surface, firm-walled, median cells linear, 35–70 X 2–4 µm, extreme apical cells shorter; alar cells slightly dif-ferentiated, of 4–10 quadrate to short-rectangular cells. Branch leaves ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 0.7–1.0 mm long. Dioicous. Sporophytes not seen; description from Buck and Ireland (1992), Buck (1998), and He and Snider (2000). Setae elongate, to 2 mm long, red, smooth below, roughened above. Capsules erect to suberect, cylindric to oblong-ovate, 1.5–2.6 mm long, symmetric, mammil-lose at the neck, densely spinose above, spines to 110 µm long; exothecial cells thick-walled, rectan-gular; stomata present; opercula straight-rostrate, 0.8 mm long; annuli of 2–4 rows of cells; peristome diplolepideous; exostome teeth pale yellow, narrowly triangular at base, filiform above, dorsal (outer) surface smooth to faintly papillose, weakly cross-striate at base; endostome with a low, smooth basal membrane, 50–60 µm high, segments narrow, keeled, perforate, lightly papillose, cilia absent. Spores rounded, 13–18 µm, finely papillose. Calyptra cucullate, naked, smooth.