Entodon hampeanus

Plants in dense mats, yellow-green. Stems to 5 cm, irregularly branched, branches complanate-foliate. Leaves erect to spreading, oblong to oblong-ovate, widest at 1/3 leaf length, 2 mm; margins plane, subentire proximally, densely serrulate distally; apex obtuse, broadly apiculate, or sometimes acute; costa double, short; alar region gradually differentiated, 1-stratose, not reaching costa or reaching it in 2 or 3 rows. Sexual condition autoicous. Seta yellow, to 2.5 cm. Capsule long-cylindric, to 4 mm; annulus not differentiated; operculum long-conic; exostome teeth reddish, external surface striate proximally, papillose, becoming smooth distally, internal surface papillose to smooth, not perforate; endostome segments smooth to lightly papillose. Spores 13–15 µm.

Habitat: Bark at base of trees, rock, calcareous soil
Elevation: low elevations

S.C., Mexico (Chiapas, Oaxaca, Puebla, Tamaulipas, Veracruz), South America.

Discussion

Entodon hampeanus is very similar to E. macropodus, but differs in its leaves broadest at 1/3 the leaf length rather than near the insertion. Sporophytic features are needed for certainty in identification. The exostome teeth on the external surface are cross striolate near the base, more or less vertically striolate mid tooth, and papillose distally, whereas in E. macropodus they are irregularly and more coarsely striate throughout. Even the internal surfaces of the exostome teeth in E. macropodus have distinctive striations, whereas in E. hampeanus the inner surface is papillose to smooth. The species is known from two collections made in South Carolina by W. B. Schofield in the late 1950s. However, the sites are now submerged by Lake Jocassee, and the species is presumably extirpated in that location.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa