BFNA Title: Bryoandersonia
Author: M. S. Ignatov
Date: November 15, 2007
Aug. 3, 2010
Edit Level: R2
Version: 1

Bryophyte Flora of North America, Provisional Publication
Missouri Botanical Garden
BFNA Web site: http://www.mobot.org/plantscience/BFNA/bfnamenu.htm

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XX. Bryoandersonia H. Robinson, Bryologist 65: 137. 1962 [1963] * [Bryum, a moss, and Lewis E.Anderson, American bryologist, 1912--2007]

Michael S. Ignatov

Plants robust, rigid, green to golden-brownish, in dense or moderately dense tufts. Stems prostrate or more commonly ascending to erect when growing in dense tufts, with central strand, densely, julaceous, irregularly pinnately branched, branches often quite congested; branch foliage similar to that of stem; axillary hairs 4--6-celled, distal-most cell obtuse, pale brown. Stem leaves broadly ovate, broadly rounded to the apex, very concave and densely imbricate at shoot ends (or dense throughout shoots), in older parts of shoots broadly ovate-triangular, short-acuminate, less concave, and loosely imbricate, broadly rounded to the base and somewhat auriculate, shortly and narrowly decurrent, rather slightly plicate; margin serrate to serrulate; costa narrow, reaching 0.5--0.9 of leaf length, ending without spine; basal laminal cells broader, with incrassate and strongly porose cell walls; alar cells broader than other basal cells, subquadrate to short-rectangular, thick-walled, forming rather small group of 2--4 x 4--6 cells; medial laminal cells linear, slightly flexuose, moderately thick-walled. Branch leaves similar to stem leaves. Sexual condition dioicous; perichaetial leaves reflexed, acuminate from loosely sheathing bases. Seta red to red-brown, smooth. Capsule inclined to horizontal, oblong, slightly curved, annulus separating by fragments; operculum long and broadly rostrate; peristome perfect. Calyptra naked. Spores 13--17 \um, smooth.

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

SELECTED REFERENCE Robinson, H. 1962 [1963]. Generic revisions of North American Brachytheciaceae. Bryologist 65: 73--146.

Bryoandersonia was segregated by Robinson (1962) from the heterogeneous Cirriphyllum where it was placed by Grout (1898). Phylogenetic analysis of Ignatov and Huttunen (2002) confirmed the independent status of this genus, which is probably one of the most isolated and ancient in the family.

1. Bryoandersonia illecebra (Hedwig) H. Robinson, Bryologist 65: 139. 1962 [1963]

Hypnum illecebrum Hedwig, Sp. Musc. Frond. 252. 66, figs. 1--2. 1801; Cirriphyllum boscii (Schwägrichen) Grout

Stems to 10(--15) cm, branches to 15(--30) mm. Stem leaves 1.4--2.2 x 1--1.4 mm; mid leaf cells (30--)40--55(--70) x 5--7 \um. Seta 1.3--2.3 cm. Capsule ca. 1.5 mm.

Soil in forest, on landslides and among moderately dense grasses in meadow and lawns, also rocks and tree bases; 10--920 m; Ont.; Ala., Ark., Conn., Del., D.C., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., La., Md., Mass., Mich., Miss., Mo., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Okla., Pa., R.I., S.C., Tenn., Tex., Va., W.Va.

Bryoandersonia is a locally common species in the eastern North America, especially in the more southern states, and it can be expected in northeastern Mexico. The species is easy to recognize by its concave leaves and julaceous shoots. In exposed habitats, the plant often grows as a dense cluster of evenly julaceous shoots. In more mesic environments, the stem is more elongate, with spaced branches that have strongly concave leaves only near their ends, while proximally, leaves are ovate-triangular and only slightly concave. Its growth pattern is much like Myuroclada, a monotypic genus widespread in East Asia and found in North America only in Alaska; thus, confusing them is unlikely. Pseudoscleropodium purum has some similarity with Bryoandersonia when depauperate, but differs in its regular pinnate branching, growth in rather dense tufts, and only slightly serrate distal leaf margins. Sporophytes are rare in Bryoandersonia.

OTHER REFERENCES:

Grout, A. J. 1898. A revision of the North American Eurhynchia. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 25: 221--256.

Ignatov, M. S. and S. Huttunen. 2002 [2003]. Brachytheciaceae (Bryophyta)---a family of sibling genera. Arctoa 11: 245--296.