Didymodon giganteus

(Funck) Juratzka

Laubm. Fl. Oesterr.-Ung., 102. 1882,.

Basionym: Barbula gigantea Funck Flora 15: 483. 1832
Synonyms: Geheebia gigantea (Funck) Boulay
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 27. Treatment on page 559. Mentioned on page 539, 541, 560, 580.

Plants redbrown. Stems often 3–5 cm, central strand present. Stem-leaves appressed when dry, spreading or weakly recurved and keeled when moist, monomorphic, ellipticlanceolate, adaxially grooved along costa, (2–) 2.5–4 mm, base scarcely differentiated in shape to elliptic, margins nearly broadly recurved in proximal 1/3–3/4 of leaf, entire, apex acute or gradually acuminate, not fragile; costa percurrent, tapering and distinctly widened at base, widened pad of cells absent, adaxial costal cells elongate, 5–7 cells wide at mid leaf, guide cells in 1 layer; basal laminal cells differentiated medially, rectangular, walls thickened and porose; distal laminal cells 13–15 µm wide, 1: 1 or occasionally transversely elongated, papillae absent or simple, low, present only on the back of the leaf near the apex, lumens angular, walls irregularly thickened and trigonous with trigones about the same size as the lumens, weakly convex on both sides, 1-stratose. Specialized asexual reproduction specialized structures absent. Sexual condition sterile. Sporophytes not seen. Distal laminal KOH reaction dark red.


Habitat: Soil, cliff, slopes, lichen tundra, ledges, moist areas
Elevation: low to moderate elevations (20-1000 m)

Distribution

V27 804-distribution-map.gif

B.C., N.W.T., Alaska, Europe, Asia

Discussion

Didymodon giganteus commonly forms large tufts on slopes and ledges in the far North. Several specimens, collected in Alaska, have been seen with the above combination of characters, which is that of European specimens. Many collections, however, that had been previously identified as this species but having weak trigones are either D. ferrugineus or D. maximus.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"um" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property."um" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property.

... more about "Didymodon giganteus"
quadrate +  and elongate +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (0.6 cm6 mm <br />0.006 m <br />) +
channeled +, concave +  and long-triangular +
0.04 cm0.4 mm <br />4.0e-4 m <br /> (0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br />) +
of 1-2 rows +  and differentiated +
long-excurrent +  and short-excurrent +
not fragile +
acuminate +  and acute +
Richard H. Zander +
(Funck) Juratzka +
weak +  and strong +
ovate +  and crescent--shaped +
papillose +  and smooth +
usually slightly wider +
differentiated +
differentiated +
Barbula gigantea +
obovoid +
cucullate +
stegocarpous +
monoicous +, dioicous +  and sexual +
flat to bulging +
thin;thick +
1 +  and 10 +
hexagonal +
tomentose +  and bare +
tapering +
widened +
quadrate +  and rectangular +
occasionally weakly dentate or crenulate +  and entire +
subquadrate;hexagonal or rounded-angular occasionally shortly rectangular or rhomboid +
B.C. +, N.W.T. +, Alaska +, Europe +  and Asia +
low to moderate elevations (20-1000 m) +
differentiated +
multicellular +
occasional +
Soil, cliff, slopes, lichen tundra, ledges, moist areas +
yellow +  and orange-red or red +
grooved +  and monomorphic +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (0.25 cm2.5 mm <br />0.0025 m <br />) +
0.25 cm2.5 mm <br />0.0025 m <br /> (0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br />) +
recurved +  and spreading +
spreading +  and strongly reflexed +
ovate +, keeled +  and curled +
reduced +
specialized +
dioicous +  and sexual +
occasionally trigonous +  and weakly strongly convex +
short-conic;long-conic +
photosynthetic +
widened +
lateral +  and terminal +
lateral +  and terminal +
twisted +, cleft +  and perforated +
red +, orange +  and yellow +
oblong +  and linear or long-triangular +
1 (?) +  and 2 (?) +
Laubm. Fl. Oesterr.-Ung., +
straight +
yellowish;reddish-brown +
elongate +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br />) +
2 +  and 1 +
yellow +, red-orange +, red +  and laminal +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (9 cm90 mm <br />0.09 m <br />) +
rounded-triangular +  and rounded-pentagonal +
3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br /> (5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br />) +
sterile +, sexual +, absent +  and asexual +
Geheebia gigantea +
Didymodon giganteus +
Didymodon +
species +
elliptic;cylindric +
0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br /> (0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br />) +
rudimentary +
1-stratose +  and porose +
red +  and yellow +
trigonous +
convex +
stemless +  and perigoniate +