Micromitrium
Musci Appalach., 10. 1870 ,.
Stems absent or less than 1 mm, but up to 3.7 mm in M. synoicum. Leaves usually somewhat shriveled or contorted when dry; costa commonly none, but occasionally suggested by a few median cells with thick walls or by a short and indistinct double layer beyond the middle; laminal cells lax, hyaline, non-papillose. Sexual condition synoicous or dioicous. Capsule cleistocarpous or dehiscing along a ring of differentiated cells at or distal to the equator, globose or subglobose, without a multicellular apiculus, less than 0.4 mm from base to apex; exothecium of 1–2 cell layers; columella absent in maturing capsules. Calyptra persistent, minute, scarcely more than the remnants of the archegonial venter and neck, tightly adherent at or near the capsule apex, less than 0.16 mm.
Distribution
Nearly worldwide in temperate and tropical regions.
Discussion
Species ca. 9 (4 in the flora).
Micromitrium differs from Ephemerum in having a persistent, minute calyptra, consisting of merely the archegonial neck and distal portion of the venter, a capsule that is globose and regularly dehiscent in most species, usually ecostate leaves with leaf cells that are large, hyaline, and non-papillose. Except for M. megalosporum and M. wrightii, Micromitrium differs also in having an operculum (though rudimentary), no spore sac, and no stomates. Micromitrium megalosporum and M. wrightii resemble Ephemerum in having a usually cleistocarpous capsule, an exothecium of two layers, and stomates. Cytological characters confirm the distinctness of the two genera. At the time of meiosis Micromitrium capsules are remarkably smaller than mature capsules, while capsules of Ephemerum, at the time of meiosis, are approaching their mature size. A difference in size is also seen in the spore mother cells undergoing meiosis: in the species of Micromitrium that have been studied cytologically, M. tenerum (as Nanomitrium austinii) and M. megalosporum (as N. megalosporum), the spore mother cells are very small and include 10, 11, or 22 chromosomes, in comparison with the large spore mother cells of Ephemerum with 27 chromosomes (V. S. Bryan 1957). In the latter, meiotic chromosome configurations occupy only a small volume of the large spore mother cells.
Selected References
Lower Taxa
Key
| 1 | Capsules dehiscent by a ring of differentiated cells at or distal to the equator; exothecial cells in 1 layer; stomata absent; spores 28-45 × 20-37 µm | > 2 |
| 1 | Capsules cleistocarpous or rarely dehiscent by a ring of differentiated cells distal to the equator; exothecial cells in 2 layers, stomata present; spores 50-84 × 37-67 µm | > 3 |
| 2 | Stems 0.2-3.7 mm, usually 0.7-2.2 mm; leaves erect, lanceolate, margins usually ± incurved distal to the middle; entire or nearly so. | Micromitrium synoicum |
| 2 | Stems usually absent, but sometimes up to 1 mm; proximal leaves spreading, distal erect, lanceolate to ligulate, margins plane, usually serrulate distal by protruding cell apices, or almost entire. | Micromitrium tenerum |
| 3 | Distal leaves broadly ovate-lanceolate and somewhat clasping at base, less than 0.43 mm wide; stomates in distal half of capsule. | Micromitrium megalosporum |
| 3 | Distal leaves linear-lanceolate, rarely with toothed shoulders, less than 0.26 mm wide; stomates in proximal half of capsule. | Micromitrium wrightii |