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TRIPTEROCLADIUM - HYPNACEAE

TRIPTEROCLADIUM (Jaeger) Jaeger, Ber. Thätik. St. Gallischen Naturwiss. Ges. 1877--78: 484. 1880 • Greek, tri, 3; pteron, wing; klados, branch; referring to perceived tripinnate branching

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 nearly 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. Setae red, smooth. Capsules suberect and ± curved to horizontal; annulus well differentiated; operculum conic; stomata in the short neck; peristome teeth pale yellow, cross-striolate below; endostome a high basal membrane with narrow, densely papillose segments perforated along the keel [with apparently single-nodose cilia, not seen]. Calyptrae and spores not seen.

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

This monotypic genus 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 (J. K. A. Müller) Jaeger, Ber. St. Gallischen Naturwiss. Ges. 1877-78: 484. 1880

Hypnum leucocladulum J. K. A. Müller, 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. Setae 10--15 mm. Capsules 1.5--2 mm.

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