Papillaria nigrescens

(Hedwig) A. Jaeger

Ber. Thätigk. St. Gallischen Naturwiss. Ges. 1875 – 1876: 265. 1877.

Illustrated
Basionym: Hypnum nigrescens Hedwig Sp. Musc. Frond., 250, plate 65 [bottom], figs. 1 – 4. 1801
Synonyms: Papillaria nigrescens subsp. donnellii (Austin) Kindberg P. nigrescens var. donnellii Austin Tricholepis nigrescens T. nigrescens var. donnellii (Austin) Grout
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 28. Treatment on page 480. Mentioned on page 482.

Plants often black with age. Stems conspicuous, branches short or sometimes elongate, often some naked distally except for terminal tuft of leaves; branchlets often present in leaf-axils, slender, fragile, flagelliform. Stem-leaves concave, 1–1.5 mm; apex acute. Branch leaves acuminate, 1–1.5 mm; costa to mid leaf or longer; medial laminal cells 25–40 µm, papillae 4–6-seriate, on abaxial and adaxial surfaces, occasionally on sutures between adjacent cells. Sporophytes unknown.


Habitat: Tree bark in shaded humid hammocks and swamp forests, limestone, soil
Elevation: low elevations (0-10 m)

Distribution

V28 750-distribution-map.gif

Fla., La., Mexico, West Indies, Central America, South America

Discussion

The stems and branches of Papillaria nigrescens are terete-foliate, dull, yellowish green, and often blackish in older portions. The plants creep over bark substrates and sometimes have elongate, irregularly branched, pendent branches. In some colonies of P. nigrescens, leaves of all plants have long, 1-seriate, filiform apices so that plants very much resemble Barbella pendula. Although perigonia are present in some specimens, no perichaetia or sporophytes have been found in plants from the flora area. Plants referred to as var. donnellii represent an apparently casually expressed form in which some branches lose their leaves, except for a tuft at the tip of the otherwise naked setalike branch. Papillaria nigrescens is common and often locally abundant throughout most of Florida, much less so in southern Louisiana.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.
... more about "Papillaria nigrescens"
dioicous +  and sexual +
William D. Reese† +
(Hedwig) A. Jaeger +
auriculate +
Hypnum nigrescens +
squarrose +  and spreading +
0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br /> (0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br />) +
pendent +  and erect +
elongate +
short;elongate +
flagelliform +
conic-mitrate +  and cucullate +
oblong-ovoid;ovoid +
differentiated +
inconspicuous +
rarely +  and single +
slender +
3 (?) +  and 2 (?) +
Fla. +, La. +, Mexico +, West Indies +, Central America +  and South America +
low elevations (0-10 m) +
Tree bark in shaded humid hammocks and swamp forests, limestone, soil +
0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br /> (0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br />) +
papillose-denticulate +  and plane +
seriate-papillose +
autoicous +, dioicous +  and sexual +
short-rostrate +  and rostrate +
2 (?) +  and 1 (?) +
Ber. Thätigk. St. Gallischen Naturwiss. Ges. +
Illustrated +
spheric +
lanceolate-acuminate +
irregularly branched;subpinnate +
squarrose +  and spreading +
conspicuous +
spreading-complanate +
Papillaria nigrescens subsp. donnellii +, P. nigrescens var. donnellii +, Tricholepis nigrescens +  and T. nigrescens var. donnellii +
Papillaria nigrescens +
Papillaria +
species +