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BFNA Title: Pseudoscleropodium |
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PSEUDOSCLEROPODIUM
- BRACHYTHECIACEAE XX. PSUDOSCLEROPODIUM
(Limpricht) Fleischer in Brotherus, Nat. Pfl. 11: 394. 1925 * [Greek pseudos,
false, and the moss genus Scleropodium] W. B. Schofield Scleropodium sect. Pseudoscleropodium Limpricht, Laubm. Deutschl. 3: 142, 1896 Plants robust, in loose soft, yellowish-green
to golden-green mats, reclining to suberect.
Leafy shoots and branches julaceous,
regularly to irregularly pinnately branched, 2--15 cm, branches 1--3 cm,
lacking rhizoids. Leaves crowded and imbricate to loosely erect, incurved, weakly
plicate when dry, broadly ovate to oblong, stem leaves 2--2.5 mm, branch
leaves 1--2 mm, rounded obtuse and with abruptly reflexed apiculus, margins
plane, entire to weakly toothed, costa single, slender; laminal cells
linear-flexuose, smooth, 50--80 \um (10:1). Sexual condition dioicous. Seta
brown when mature, smooth, 2--5 cm.
Perichaetial leaves ecostate,
the inner ovate-lanceolate, subulate-acuminate, erect, sheathing the
seta. Capsule inclined to pendulous, oblong-cylindric; annulus
well-defined, of 2 rows of cells; operculum blunt conic; peristome double, exostome of 16
lance-subulate red-brown teeth, endostome pale yellow-brown, finely
papillose, with high basal membrane, cilia appendiculate in groups of 2 or
3. Calyptra cucullate, smooth.
Spores 11--13 \um,
spherical, smooth to finely roughened. Species 1 (1
in flora): native to Europe but introduced widely, e, w North America, West
Indies (Jamaica), South America, Europe, n Africa, Asia (Japan, Sri
Lanka),Atlantic Islands (Azores, Canary Islands, Iceland, Madeira, St.
Helena, Tristan da Cunha), Indian Ocean Islands (Reunion), Pacific Islands
(Hawaii). 1. Pseudoscleropodium purum (Hedwig)
Fleischer ex Brotherus, Nat. Pfl. ed. 2, 2: 294, l925 Hypnum purum Hedwig, Sp. Musc. Frond., 253. 1801; Scleropodium purum (Hedwig) Limpricht in Rabenhorst Plants forming carpets or turfs, regularly
pinnate in protected sites, irregularly branching in regularly mowed
lawns. Sporophytes unknown in Lawns of urban
areas and in cemeteries, tolerant of lawn-mowing, sometimes flourishing at
forest edges where discarded with lawn clippings; tolerant of 2--3 months of summer drying,
flourishing in winter; low to moderate elevations; B.C., Miquelon, Nfld.,
N.S.; Maine, Mass., Mich., N.H., N.Y., Ore., Wash. Pseudoscleropodium purum is considered a troublesome lawn-weed
on the Pacific coast, leading to a thriving “moss-killer” industry. It is always in anthropogenic habitats, and
was probably introduced in packing material for nursery stock, possibly
disseminated inadvertently from one lawn to another by professional lawn-care
workers. Additional information on this unusual moss has been presented by E.
Lawton (1960), N. G. Miller (2000), N. G. Miller and N. Trigoboff (2001). SELECTED
REFERENCES Lawton, E. 1960. Pseudoscleropodium purum in the |
