Platydictya minutissima

Plants thin, ± silky, green to brownish. Stems with branching angle wide, branches firmly attached; pseudoparaphyllia apparently absent; rhizoids below or at abaxial leaf insertion, red-brown, smooth. Leaves loosely spreading, 0.1–0.3 mm; base not narrowed to insertion; margins entire at insertion, serrulate elsewhere; alar cells scarcely differentiated; distal laminal cells elongate-rhomboidal, 3–6:1. Specialized asexual reproduction absent. Sexual condition autoicous; perichaetial leaf margins coarsely dentate distally. Seta 0.4–0.9 cm. Capsule inclined, horizontal, or sometimes suberect, broadly oblong-ovoid, asymmetric, 0.4–0.5 mm, not contracted below mouth when dry, neck absent; stomata absent; annulus 1-seriate; operculum convex-conic, stoutly apiculate; exostome teeth yellowish; endostome cilia 1 or 2, well developed. Spores 8–13 µm.

Habitat: Moist, shaded rock (limestone, sandstone)
Elevation: low to moderate elevations

Distribution

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Que., Ark., Ind., Mass., N.J., N.Y., Ohio, Pa., Wis.

Discussion

Platydictya minutissima is rare and occurs in thin, rather silky mats. The leaves are somewhat remote, loosely spreading when dry, and serrulate except near the insertion; the laminal cells are elongate, and those in the alar regions are scarcely differentiated.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.