Isopterygium

Belongs within: Plagiotheciaceae.

Isopterygium is a genus of mosses found around the world, primarily in terrestrial habitats. They are characterised by the possession of filamentous pseudoparaphyllia.

Characteristics (from Ireland & Buck 2009): Plants small to medium-sized, in thin to dense mats, glossy, light green to yellow-green. Stems complanate-foliate, creeping, simple or sparingly and irregularly branched, cortical cells small and thick-walled in cross-section, surrounding larger, thinner walled cells, central strand usually absent; rhizoids smooth, on ventral surface of stems and branches just below juncture of leaves; filamentous pseudoparaphyllia present, of 3–6 cells in 1 row or rarely 2 rows near base; axillary hairs consisting of 1 moderately long, brown basal cell and 1–3 elongate, hyaline distal cells. Asexual reproductive bodies sometimes present on stems and branches, uniseriate, often branched, filamentous, multicellular bodies with papillose cells. Stem and branch leaves similar, rigid or flaccid, crowded and imbricate to remote, erect-spreading or squarrose, sometimes contorted when dry, smooth, flat or somewhat concave, symmetric or asymmetric, nondecurrent or rarely with 1–2 decurrent cells, ovate or lanceolate, sometimes oblong, acute to acuminate; margins plane to erect, sometimes recurved at base, serrulate above the middle, mostly entire below, sometimes entire throughout; costa short and double, occasionally lacking; median cells often flexuose, thin to firm-walled, linear-fusiform, smooth, with walls not pitted or occasionally those of basal cells pitted; alar cells usually clearly differentiated, quadrate to rectangular, rarely transversely elongate. Autoicous or rarely dioicous; perigonia scattered along the stems; perichaetia at base of stems, leaves oblong-lanceolate, gradually acuminate; margins plane. Setae smooth, elongate, straight to curved, usually twisted, yellow, brown, or reddish brown; capsules inclined to cernuous, or sometimes erect, straight or curved when mature, brown to red-brown, cylindrical, ellipsoid or ovoid, smooth or sometimes wrinkled at neck and usually contracted below the mouth when dry; operculum conic to short-rostrate, shorter than the urn; annulus none; peristome double, exostome teeth cross-striolate below, papillose above, bordered, trabeculate at back; endostome with a high to low basal membrane, keeled segments, and cilia shorter than the segments, in groups of 1–3, sometimes absent. Spores spherical to ovoid, smooth or minutely papillose. Calyptra cucullate, smooth, naked.

<==Isopterygium Mitt. 1869SK02
    |--I. acuminatum Bosw. 1892SK02
    |--I. albescens (Hooker) Jaeger 1878 [incl. Hypnum candidum, I. candidum; incl. I. molliculum]SK02
    |--I. amblyocarpum (Hampe) Broth. 1908 [=Leskea amblyocarpa, Platygyrium amblyocarpum]SK02
    |--I. amoenum Broth. 1900SK02
    |--I. arachnoideum Broth. 1900SK02
    |--I. byssicaule (Müll.Hal.) Jaeger 1878SK02
    |--I. gunnii Brotherus & Watts 1915BW15
    |--I. howeanum Broth. & Watts 1915SK02
    |--I. latifolium Broth. 1900SK02
    |--I. lignicolaN02
    |--I. limatum (Hooker & Wilson) Broth. 1908 (see below for synonymy)SK02
    |--I. longithecaN02
    |--I. minutirameum (Müll.Hal.) Jaeger 1878 [=Taxiphyllum minutirameum (Müll.Hal.) Mill. & Smith 1968]SK02
    |    |--I. m. var. minutirameum [incl. Hypnum austropusillum, I. austropusillum]SK02
    |    `--I. m. var. brevifolium (Fleischer) Bartram 1933 (see below for synonymy)SK02
    |--I. neocaledonicum Thér. 1909SK02
    |--I. norfolkianum [=Hypnum norfolkianum]SK02
    |--I. novae-valesiae Broth. 1900 [=Taxithelium novae-valesiae (Broth.) Broth. 1908]SK02
    |--I. pseudosubulatumSK02
    `--I. subarachnoideum Broth. 1900SK02
Nomina nuda: Isopterygium austrosubulatum Müll.Hal. ex Burges 1935SK02
             Isopterygium baileyanum Müll.Hal. ex Bailey 1888SK02
             Isopterygium caespitulosum Paris 1900 [=Taxicaulis caespitulosus Müll.Hal. ex Paris 1900]SK02
             Isopterygium sublatifolium Broth. 1918SK02
             Isopterygium viridepallens Müll.Hal. ex Burges 1935SK02
             Isopterygium viridipallidus Müll.Hal. ex Forsyth 1900SK02

Isopterygium limatum (Hooker & Wilson) Broth. 1908 [=Hypnum limatum, Rhaphidorrhynchum limatum (nom. inv.); incl. Ectropothecium australe]^SK02

Isopterygium minutirameum var. brevifolium (Fleischer) Bartram 1933 [=Taxiphyllum minutirameum var. brevifolium (Fleischer) Whittier 1975]^SK02

*Type species of generic name indicated

References

[BW15] Brotherus, V. F., & W. W. Watts. 1915. The mosses of the New Hebrides [part 2]. Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 49 (2): 145–157.

Ireland, R. R., & W. R. Buck. 2009. Some Latin American genera of Hypnaceae (Musci). Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 93: 1–97.

[N02] Negi, H. R. 2002. Abundance and diversity of moss communities of Chopta-Tunganath in the Garhwal Himalaya. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 99 (3): 418–433.

[SK02] Streimann, H., & N. Klazenga. 2002. Catalogue of Australian Mosses. Flora of Australia Supplementary Series 17. Australian Biological Resources Study: Canberra.