BFNA Title: Mastigophoraceae |
MASTIGOPHORA
– MASTIGOPHORACEAE MASTIGOPHORACEAE
Schuster, J. Hattori Bot. Lab. 36: 345. 1972 W. B. Schofield Plants large, 5--15 cm; branching exclusively terminal, pinnate to bipinuate. Stem with
cortical cells collenchymatous, cuticle smooth; anisophyllous.
Leaves asymmetric, the antical lobe larger and undivided, the postical 1--4 subdivided; dioicous. Sexual condition
with sexual branches short; perianth rudimentary, often divided into lobed
bracts. Capsule spherical,
epidermal cells largely without secondary thickenings. Genera
2 (1 in the flora): Predominantly Old World tropical and subtropical to
Southern Hemisphere temperate (New Zealand). The
only genus of the family in the North Temerate Zone
is Mastigophora.. SELECTED
REFERENCE: Inoue, H. Memoir of the Genus Mastigophora Nees. Bull. Nat. Sci. Museum (Tokyo) 14:
603--608. XX.
MASTIGOPHORA Nees, Naturg.
Europ. Leberm. 3: 89.
1883, conserved name * [Greek mastix, whip,
and phora, carrying, referring to
flagelliform branch apices] Plants in
loose rusty or orange-brown to nearly black mats of erect, reclining to
semi-erect or arching shoots, regularly to irregularly pinnate or 2-prinnate,
the branch apices frequently attenuate and flagelliform; rhizoids absent or
scarce, confined
to leaves at apices of flagelliform branches. Leaves of stem incubous
to transverse, asymmetrical, convex, postical lobes
of stem leaves acuminate to ciliate, leaf cells with large, nodular,
sometimes confluent trigones; branch
leaves also asymmetric but usually unequally 2-lobed; oil bodies
spherical, elliptical or fusiform; underleaves 1/2 size of lateral and 2--4
lobed with broadly recurved lateral margins and sinus gibbous; paraphyllia
usually scarce, forked or simple. Sexual condition dioicous. Specialized asexual reproduction absent.
Sporophytes unknown in
Northern Hemisphere. Species 4 (1 in the flora): disjunctive between w North America, w Europe, se Asia, and Pacific Islands (New Zealand); terrestrial or epiphytic, cliffs, peatland, predominantly in high-moisture temperate to subtropical climates, 0--4000 m. 1. Mastigophora woodsii (Hooker) Nees, Naturg. Europ. Leberm. 3:95. 1838 Jungermannia woodsii Hooker, Brit. Jung. tab. 66. 1814 Plants reddish or golden-brown to nearly black; branches
frequently with branchlets, some flagelliform, others blunt, especially at
the apex of the main shoot and most distal branches. Leaves
of stem not strongly
overlapping on the red-brown stem, exposing the parallel-oriented abundant
filiform paraphyllia, usually 3-lobed, the antical
markedly larger than the others, with ciliate margins; branch leaves more
closely overlapping; underleaves 2-lobed, margins ciliate. Sexual
branches and sporophytes unknown. Mainly in extremely humid sites in
high-moisture climates near the ocean, in peatland, usually somewhat shaded,
bogs, cliff shelves, stream banks; 0--50 m, but to 4000 m in Himalayas; B.C.
(Queen Charlotte Islands, Pitt Island); Europe (Faeroe Islands, w Ireland,
Scotland; Asia (India, Taiwan). The species is clearly relictual
in its whole range, lacking sexual or vegetative reproduction, and the
distribution apparently strongly controlled by an extremely high-moisture
climate. |