BFNA Title: Tripterocladium
Author: H. A. Crum
Date: June 5, 2002
Revised by W. R. Buck
Edit Level: R Brum+
Version: 2

Notice

Return to Home

TRIPTEROCLADIUM - HYPNACEAE

Edit Level R Brum+ revised

TRIPTEROCLADIUM (Jaeger) Jaeger, Ber. Thätik. St. Gallischen Naturwiss. Ges. 1877--78: 484. 1880 * [Greek, tri, 3; pteron, wing; klados, branch; alluding to apparent tripinnate branching]

H. A. Crum

Eurhynchium sect. Tripterocladium Jaeger, Ber. Thätik. St. Gallischen Naturwiss. Ges. 1876--77: 362. 1878

Plants rather small, shiny. Stems irregularly 1(--2)-pinnate, the branches of unequal length; pseudoparaphyllia broadly rounded-foliose. Stem leaves oblong-ovate, broadly acuminate, decurrent; margins plane or somewhat recurved near the base, entire or ± serrulate; costa short and double to single and sometimes extending almost to the midleaf; distal cells linear, thick-walled, smooth; alar cells small and subquadrate in rather sizable groups. Branch leaves smaller, more broadly acuminate, irregularly serrate distally. Sexual condition dioicous. Perichaetial leaves pale, sheathing at base, abruptly short-subulate, entire or nearly so. Seta red, smooth. Capsule suberect and ± curved to horizontal; annulus well differentiated; operculum conic; stomata in the short neck; peristome teeth pale yellow, cross-striolate basally; endostome a high basal membrane with narrow, densely papillose segments perforated along the keel [with apparently single-nodose cilia, not seen]. Calyptra and spores not seen.

Species 1 (1 in the flora): w North America.

Tripterocladium is a monotypic genus that has been put in the Lembophyllaceae in the past but seems most closely related to the Hypnaceae as discussed by H. A. Crum (1987).

SELECTED REFERENCES Crum, H. A. 1987. Bestia, Tripterocladium, and Isothecium: an explication of relationships. Bryologist 90: 40--42.

1. Tripterocladium leucocladulum (Müller Hal.) Jaeger, Ber. St. Gallischen Naturwiss. Ges. 1877-78: 484. 1880 E

Hypnum leucocladulum Müller Hal., Flora 58: 79. 1875

Plants slender, pale yellow, green, or brownish. Stems erect-ascending, often filiform. Stem leaves imbricate when dry, erect-spreading when moist, 1.1--1.2 mm; costa short and double or single and extending nearly to the midleaf; distal cells linear, thick-walled, smooth; alar cells small and subquadrate in rather sizable groups. Branch leaves 0.4--0.8 mm. Seta 10--15 mm. Capsule 1.5--2 mm.

Dry, shaded cliffs and boulders; B. C.; Calif., Idaho, Ore., Wash.