Lepyrodontopsis

Lepyrodontopsis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Bryophyta
Class: Bryopsida
Subclass: Bryidae
Order: Hypnales
Family: Meteoriaceae (?)
Genus: Lepyrodontopsis
Broth.

Lepyrodontopsis is a monospecific genus of disputed taxonomy. It has been variously placed in Meteoriaceae and Brachytheciaceae, which are regarded as sister families.[1]

The only accepted species within Lepyrodontopsis is L. trichophylla. One invalid species was described and placed within Lepyrodontopsis, but the description gives no type specimen and lacks a Latin diagnosis.[2]

Morphology

Lepyrodontopsis trichophylla is a pleurocarp of moderate size with a complanate habit. Its leaves have linear cells characteristic of Hypnales and lack cellular ornamentation. It lacks a costa and has serrate to serrulate margins. The major diagnostic characteristic of Lepyrodontopsis is longitudinal furrows, particularly obvious when the leaves are dry.[3]

Distribution

Lepyrodontopsis is limited to the Neotropics. It has been recorded in the Tropical Andes,[4] the Dominican Republic,[5] the elfin woodland of Jamaica and Puerto Rico,[6][7][8] Montserrat,[9] and other West Indian islands.

Disputed taxonomy

At the time that it was described in 1924, Lepyrodontopsis was placed within Brachytheciaceae. In Pleurocarpous Mosses of the West Indies, W. R. Buck placed it in Meteoriaceae, despite in 1981 proposing a new family—Lepyrodontopsidaceae—because Lepyrodontopsis is phylogenetically isolated due to its strange morphology.[10][11] It is abnormal among the ecostate hypnoids due to its deeply plicate leaves. Nor does it fit within the costate hypnoids, as it lacks that characteristic structure. Phylogenetically, Buck placed it near Meteoriaceae, and in 1986, he placed Lepyrodontopsidaceae in the proposed super-family of Meteoriacanae.[12] Following Buck's lead, Guide to the Bryophytes of Tropical America likewise places Lepyrodontopsis in Meteoriaceae, though it remarks on the need for further phylogenetic research to understand its placement within the order.[13]

References

  1. ^ Engler, Adolf; Prantl, Karl; Brotherus, Viktor Ferdinand (1924). Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien nebst ihren Gattungen und wichtigsten Arten, insbesondere den Nutzpflanzen (2 ed.). Berlin: Duncker & Humblot. p. 358.
  2. ^ "Lepyrodontopsis indica". Tropicos. Missouri Botanic Garden. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
  3. ^ "Lepyrodontopsis trichophylla (Sw. ex Hedw.) Broth". World Flora Online. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  4. ^ Churchill, Steven (September 2009). "Moss Diversity and Endemism of the Tropical Andes". Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. 96 (3): 449. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  5. ^ Jesús, Inés Sastre-De; Pérez, Mervin Pérez; Marin, Angel Motito (December 2010). "MOSSES OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: SPECIES CATALOGUE, ELEVATION DISTRIBUTION AND FLORISTIC AFFINITIES". Harvard Papers in Botany. 15 (2): 433. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  6. ^ Asprey, G. F.; Robbins, R. G. (October 1953). "The Vegetation of Jamaica". Ecological Monographs. 23 (4): 402. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  7. ^ Welch, W. H.; Crum, H. (1959). "A Contribution to the Jamaican Moss Flora". The Bryologist. 62 (3): 175–176. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  8. ^ Russell, Keith W.; Miller, H. A. (January 1977). "THE ECOLOGY OF AN ELFIN FOREST IN PUERTO RICO, 17. EPIPHYTIC MOSSY VEGETATION OF PICO DEL OESTE". Journal of the Arnold Arboretum. 58 (1): 14. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  9. ^ "Specimen List - The William & Lynda Steere Herbarium". C. V. Starr Virtual Herbarium. New York Botanical Garden. Archived from the original on December 17, 2025. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  10. ^ Buck, William R. (1998). Pleurocarpous Mosses of the West Indies. Bronx, New York: Memoirs of the New York Botanic Garden. pp. 260–261. ISBN 0-89327-418-6.
  11. ^ Buck, William R. (1981). "The Taxonomy of Eriodon and Notes on Other South American Genera of Brachytheciaceae with Erect Capsules". Brittonia. 33 (4): 556–563. doi:10.2307/2806764. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
  12. ^ Buck, William R.; Vitt, Dale H. (1986). "Suggestions for a New Familial Classification of Pleurocarpous Mosses". Taxon. 35 (1): 21–60. doi:10.2307/1221034. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
  13. ^ Churchill, Steven P.; Gradstein, Stephan Robbert; Salazar Allen, Noris (2001). Guide to the bryophytes of tropical America. Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY: New York Botanical Garden Press. ISBN 978-0-89327-435-1.
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