Fabroniaceae is a family of

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...

es belonging to the order

Hypnales Hypnales is the botanical name of an order of Bryophyta or leafy mosses. This group is sometimes called feather mosses, referring to their freely branched stems. The order includes more than 40 families and more than 4,000 species, making them ...

. It has a worldwide distribution, in temperate and tropical regions. The Fabroniaceae were established by Schimper (in 1855) to accommodate three genera: ''Fabronia'' , ''Anacamptodon'' and ''Anisodon'' .(= '' Clasmatodon'' ). Only ''Fabronia'' is still considered a member of the family (Buck & Goffinet 2000; Goffinet & Buck 2004; Goffinet et al.2009). The Fabroniaceae are well represented in the tropics with few species occurring in the North Temperate Zone.

Description

They are tropical mosses that grow on tree trunks and have erect branches and exserted capsules with the operculum (a cap-like structure) beaked. The

gametophyte A gametophyte () is one of the two alternating multicellular phases in the life cycles of plants and algae. It is a haploid multicellular organism that develops from a haploid spore that has one set of chromosomes. The gametophyte is the se ...

, is

pleurocarpous The Bryopsida constitute the largest class of mosses, containing 95% of all moss species. It consists of approximately 11,500 species, common throughout the whole world. The group is distinguished by having spore capsules with teeth that are '' ...

(side-fruited), forming patches, or growing through other

Bryophytes Bryophytes () are a group of land plants ( embryophytes), sometimes treated as a taxonomic division referred to as Bryophyta '' sensu lato'', that contains three groups of non-vascular land plants: the liverworts, hornworts, and mosses. In t ...

. It has primary stems that are procumbent (and homomallous or uniformly bending). The leaves of main stems and branches are similar in form. The leaves are nerveless, or single-nerved. The leaf blade margins are flat; unistratose (single layer of cells) and finely crenulate or entire. The walls of basal leaf cells are thick and straight. They are

dioecious Dioecy ( ; ; adj. dioecious, ) is a characteristic of certain species that have distinct unisexual individuals, each producing either male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproduction is ...

Taxonomy

The following genera are recognised in the family Fabroniaceae. Figures in brackets represent the number of species per genus: * '' Dimerodontium'' Mitt. (3) * '' Fabronia'' Raddi (62) * ''

Ischyrodon ''Ischyrodon'' (meaning 'strong tooth') is a nomen dubium, dubious genus of large pliosaurid plesiosaur from the Middle Jurassic of Switzerland. The only known species is ''I. meriani'', originally mentioned in 1838 by Hermann von Meyer from a l ...

'' Müll.Hal. (1) * '' Levierella'' Müll.Hal. (2) In a 2012 phylogenetic study, Câmara and Buck stated that the genus ''Levierella'' should be nested within the family ''

Entodontaceae Entodontaceae is a family of mosses belonging to the order Hypnales. Genera As accepted by GBIF: The figures in parentheses denote how many species in each genus. Formerly included * '' Cribrodontium'' – synonym of ''Entodon'' * '' Cyli ...

'', with ''Dimerodontium'' among taxa traditionally associated with the family ''

Leskeaceae Leskeaceae is a family of mosses belonging to the order Hypnales. Genera As recognised by World Flora Online (2024); *'' Fabronidium'' Müll. Hal. (1 species) *'' Haplocladium'' (Müll. Hal.) Müll. Hal. (18 species) *'' Hylocomiopsis'' Cardot ( ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17276631 Moss families