Neckeraceae is a moss family in 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 about 200 species native to

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

and

tropical regions The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

. Most grow on rocks, or other plants.

Description

Members of the family are usually large and glossy plants with creeping

stolons In biology, a stolon ( from Latin '' stolō'', genitive ''stolōnis'' – "branch"), also known as a runner, is a horizontal connection between parts of an organism. It may be part of the organism, or of its skeleton. Typically, animal stolons ar ...

that bear small leaves and tufts of

rhizoids Rhizoids are protuberances that extend from the lower epidermal cells of bryophytes and algae. They are similar in structure and function to the root hairs of vascular land plants. Similar structures are formed by some fungi. Rhizoids may be uni ...

. Stems are generally frondose, but may rarely be dendroid. Leaf cell shape is almost always smooth, short, and firm-walled. Marginal cells are typically quadrate to short-rectangular in few to several rows. The

sporophyte A sporophyte () is one of the two alternation of generations, alternating multicellular organism, multicellular phases in the biological life cycle, life cycles of plants and algae. It is a diploid multicellular organism which produces asexual Spo ...

features are variable between genera. Species are

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 ...

epilithic Lithophytes are plants that grow in or on rocks. They can be classified as either epilithic (or epipetric) or endolithic; epilithic lithophytes grow on the surfaces of rocks, while endolithic lithophytes grow in the crevices of rocks (and are als ...

, or aquatic.Olsson, S, Buchbender, V, Enroth, J, Huttunen, S, Hedenäs, L & Quandt, D 2009, 'Evolution of the Neckeraceae (Bryophyta): resolving the backbone phylogeny', Systematics and Biodiversity, vol 7, no. 4, pp. 419-432.

Classification

The Neckeraceae were originally placed within the

Leucodontales Hypnales is the botanical name of an order (biology), order of Bryophytes, 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 ...

. However, they are now included in the

. , the following

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

are recognised in the family Neckeraceae:

Formerly included

* '' Bissetia'' Broth. ex M. Fleisch. (now in Miyabeaceae) * '' Bryolawtonia'' D.H. Norris & Enroth (now in

Lembophyllaceae Lembophyllaceae is a family of pleurocarpous mosses in the order Hypnales. It was originally described by Finnish botanist Viktor Ferdinand Brotherus (1849–1929) in 1909. The family is mainly found in Australasia and southern South America. Ta ...

) * '' Crassiphyllum'' Ochyra (synonym of '' Thamnobryum'') * '' Cryptopodia'' Röhl. (synonym of '' Neckera'') * ''

Distichia A distichia is an eyelash that arises from an abnormal part of the eyelid. This abnormality, attributed to a genetic mutation, is known to affect dogs and humans. Distichiae usually exit from the duct of the meibomian gland at the eyelid margin. ...

'' (Brid.) Brid. (synonym of '' Neckera'') * '' Homaliadelphus'' Dixon & P. de la Varde (now in Miyabeaceae) * ''

Limbella ''Limbella'' is a genus of mosses in the family Amblystegiaceae. It contains the following species (but this list may be incomplete): * ''Limbella fryei'', (R.S. Williams) Ochyra * ''Limbella tricostata'', (Sull.) Müll. Hal. ex E.B. Bartram * ' ...

'' (Müll. Hal.) Renauld & Cardot (now in

Amblystegiaceae Amblystegiaceae is a family of mosses. It includes 20 to 30 genera with a total of up to 150 species. *'' Jankuceraea'' Ignatov & Ignatova2022 *'' Kandaea'' Jan Kučera & Hedenäs2020 *'' Koponenia'' Ochyra1985 *'' Larrainia'' W.R. Buck2015 *'' ...

) * '' Lomoporotrichum'' Müll. Hal. (synonym of '' Pseudoparaphysanthus'') * '' Neckeradelphus'' Laz. (synonym of '' Forsstroemia'') * '' Orthostichella'' Müll. Hal. (now in Orthostichellaceae) * '' Parathamnium'' (M. Fleisch.) Ochyra (synonym of '' Touwia'') * '' Porothamnium'' M. Fleisch. (synonym of '' Porotrichum'') ;Unplaced * '' Dendro-leskea'' Hampe

References

Moss families {{hypnales-stub