Family: Bartramiaceae |
Plants: in lax to dense tufts, glaucous to whitish or yellowish. Stems: 0.5–10(–16) cm, erect to inclined or procumbent, simple, 2-fid, or with subfloral whorl of branches; pentagonal in cross section, hyalodermis present, epidermis not prorulose; ± tomentose proximally, rhizoids papillose. Leaves: in many rows, rarely in 5 distinct rows, erect-spreading or somewhat secund when dry, erect-spreading to spreading when moist, lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, 1-stratose; base not sheathing; margins plane or revolute, serrulate usually throughout, teeth single or paired; apex acute to acuminate or rarely obtuse; costa subpercurrent to excurrent, abaxial surface smooth or rough; basal laminal cells usually more lax than distal cells; distal cells subquadrate to oblong or linear, prorulose at distal or proximal ends on both surfaces, rarely smooth or with centric papilla, walls thick or seldom thin. : Specialized asexual reproduction absent or by small deciduous brood branches in distal leaf axils. Sexual: condition dioicous, less frequently autoicous or rarely synoicous; perigonia gemmiform or discoid; perichaetial leaves scarcely distinct from stem leaves. Seta: single, usually elongate, straight or flexuose, rarely curved. Capsule: erect, horizontal, or inclined, globose to ovoid, furrowed when dry (smooth to irregularly wrinkled in P. cernua), mouth oblique; annulus absent; operculum conic convex, blunt to mammillate or bluntly apiculate; peristome double or rarely absent; exostome teeth dark red to reddish brown, lanceolate, densely and finely papillose, apically free; endostome yellowish to pale brown, segments keeled, cilia well developed or rudimentary. Spores: spheric to reniform, densely and usually coarsely papillose. Nearly worldwide, except Antarctica. Species ca. 180 (11 in the flora). Species of Philonotis are recognized by their 1-stratose leaves and the subfloral whorl of branches on fertile plants. While laminal cells are typically prorulose, sterile stems, especially when subject to periodic inundation, may bear leaves with smooth cells. The alar cells are not or slightly differentiated; the perigonial leaves are scarcely or clearly distinct from stem leaves; the perichaetia are terminal or lateral by innovations; the exostome teeth are trabeculate, usually with rounded to ovoid thickenings on the interior surface; the endostome has a well-developed basal membrane and vertically striate papillose segments. |