Leptodontaceae 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 ...
.
There are 3 genera with a worldwide distribution.
Most of the genera of family Leptodontaceae, originally came from family
Neckeraceae
Neckeraceae is a moss family in the order Hypnales. There are about 200 species native to temperate and tropical regions. Most grow on rocks, or other plants.
Description
Members of the family are usually large and glossy plants with creeping st ...
,
[
Such as ''Caduciella'' came into Leptodontaceae in 1991.
It originally comprised ''Alsia'', ''Forsstroemia'', and ''Leptodon''. Recently described or relocated genera in the family include ''Caduciella'' , ''Cryptoleptodon'' , and ''Taiwanobryum'' . Molecular evidence indicates that this small family may not be ]monophyletic
In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria:
# the grouping contains its own most recent co ...
.[
Family Leucodontaceae now contain ''Forsstroemia'' and ''Alsia''. Although some sources note that they are back within the Neckeraceae family.
Later ''Cryptoleptodon'' moved into family Pterobryaceae, and ''Taiwanobryum'' moved into family Prionodontaceae.
]
Description
The plants are medium sized, forming loose tufts, dark green to yellow green. Corticolous (growing on bark) or saxicolous (growing on rock).
The secondary stems are erect, sometimes incurved when dry and generally pinnately branched. The branches are in single plane,
they have pseudoparaphyllia (the trichome-like or foliose structures on moss stem surfaces).[Robert E. Magill ]
They are defined by the combination of epiphytic
An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphyt ...
habit, branching pattern of clusters of branches alternate with unbranched intervals bearing inflorescences, double sporophytic phenological cycle in which two cohorts of sporophytes mature simultaneously with embryos overwintering, subfoliose pseudoparaphyllia, cucullate calyptrae, sheathing post-fertilization perichaetial leaves (the leafy involucre surrounding the fruit stalk), central strands lacking in shoots, shortened setae
In biology, setae (; seta ; ) are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms.
Animal setae
Protostomes
Depending partly on their form and function, protostome setae may be called macrotrichia, chaetae ...
(bristles), no annuli, and an exostome (the outer ring of peristome
Peristome (from the Greek language, Greek ''peri'', meaning 'around' or 'about', and ''stoma'', 'mouth') is an anatomical feature that surrounds an opening to an organ or structure. Some plants, fungi, and shelled gastropods have peristomes.
In mo ...
teeth) that flexes open when moist and flexes inward when dry (hydrocastique), thus serving to disperse spores during wet periods.
Genera
As accepted by GBIF
The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) is an international organisation that focuses on making scientific data on biodiversity available via the Internet using web services. The data are provided by many institutions from around the ...
References
Hypnales
Moss families
{{hypnales-stub