Homalothecium sericeum

(Hedwig) Schimper in P. Bruch and W. P. Schimper

in P. Bruch and W. P. Schimper, Bryol. Europ. 5: 93. 1851.

Basionym: Leskea sericea Hedwig Sp. Musc. Frond., 228. 1801
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 28. Treatment on page 443. Mentioned on page 406, 440.

Plants medium-sized to large, in dense or loose tufts, light green to golden or brownish yellow. Stems to 5 cm, moderately densely pinnate, branches 5–7 mm, curved and secund from substrate. Stem-leaves erect-appressed, ± homomallous, triangular-lanceolate, (1.3–) 1.8–2.4 × (0.4–) 0.6–0.8 mm; base short-rounded, narrowly decurrent; margins plane or often recurved at places, serrulate, proximal teeth more prominent, often recurved; apex acuminate or gradually tapered, acumen occasionally short-filiform, not providing hyaline-villous aspect; costa to 60–80% leaf length, terminal spine absent, occasionally present; alar cells ovate, 6–9 µm wide, region of 10–16 × 10–15 cells, moderately distinctly delimited; laminal cells linear, 40–85 × 5–6 µm; basal-cells irregularly ovate, short, region in 1–3 rows, indistinctly delimited from distal cells. Branch leaves appressed to erect when dry, spreading when moist, narrowly lanceolate, 1–2 × 0.2–0.5 mm; margins plane or recurved at places, serrulate or serrate proximally, entire or minutely serrulate distally; apex acuminate; costa to 60–85% leaf length, terminal spine sometimes present; alar cells subquadrate or irregularly ovate, 7–10 µm wide, region small, of 2–5 cells along margins, indistinctly delimited; laminal cells linear-flexuose, 40–90 × 4–7 µm; basal-cells in 1 (or 2) rows; distal cells smooth. Sexual condition phyllodioicous or dioicous. [Seta 1–2 cm, rough. Capsule erect, cylindric, straight or slightly curved, 2–3 mm; annulus separating; operculum long-conic, short-rostrate; peristome hygrocastique; exostome teeth papillose to base; endostome basal membrane moderately high, segments as long as teeth, narrow, cilia very short. Spores 15–19 µm].


Habitat: Soil in grasslands, rock, rock faces, shrubs growing on rock outcrops
Elevation: low elevations (0 m)

Distribution

V28 689-distribution-map.gif

Nfld. and Labr. (Nfld.), w Eurasia, n Africa, Atlantic Islands

Discussion

The rather weak molecular differences of the North American Homalothecium sericeum from European material (S. Huttunen et al. 2008) and the limited distribution in Newfoundland suggest a rather recent migration of H. sericeum to North America. The closest stations are in Iceland, 2500 km from Newfoundland. Brachythecium laetum also has opaque basal cells, but it never develops recurved teeth along the leaf margins in the alar region.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"long" is not a number."broad" is not a number.

... more about "Homalothecium sericeum"
short-filiform +
acuminate +  and tapered +
hyaline-villous +
Michael S. Ignatov +
(Hedwig) Schimper in P. Bruch and W. P. Schimper +
wide or slightly wider +
short-decurrent +
rounded +  and narrowed +
decurrent +  and short-rounded +
short to long +
Leskea sericea +
0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br /> (0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br />) +
spreading +, appressed +  and erect +
dioicous +  and sexual +
not differentiated +
0.2mm +  and 0.5mm +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (0.7 cm7 mm <br />0.007 m <br />) +
cucullate +
curved +  and straight +
erect +, horizontal +  and inclined +
ovoid-oblong;cylindric +
specialized +
synoicous +, dioicous +, autoicous +, sexual +  and asexual +
ovate +  and subquadrate +
larger or smaller +
differentiated +
7um +  and 10um +
3 (?) +  and 2 (?) +
discernible +
moderate;stout +
dioicous +  and sexual +
Nfld. and Labr. (Nfld.) +, w Eurasia +, n Africa +  and Atlantic Islands +
low elevations (0 m) +
not adherent +
Soil in grasslands, rock, rock faces, shrubs growing on rock outcrops +
linear-flexuose +
4um (?) +  and 7um (?) +
pointed +
serrulate +, entire +  and serrate +
conic +, rostrate +  and long-conic +
perfect +  and xerocastique +
hygrocastique +
in P. Bruch and W. P. Schimper, Bryol. Europ. +
1 +  and 3 +
0.13 cm1.3 mm <br />0.0013 m <br /> (0.18 cm1.8 mm <br />0.0018 m <br />) +
0.04 cm0.4 mm <br />4.0e-4 m <br /> (0.06 cm0.6 mm <br />6.0e-4 m <br />) +
1.8mm;2.4mm +
erect-appressed +, erect-spreading +  and erect +
triangular-lanceolate +
0.6mm;0.8mm +
terete-foliate +
reddish +  and green +
pendent +, arching +, erect +, ascending +  and creeping +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br />) +
Camptothecium +, Camptothecium sect. Trachybryum +  and Trachybryum +
Homalothecium sericeum +
Homalothecium +
species +
incrassate +
light green +  and golden or brownish yellow +
medium-sized;large +