Dicranaceae

Dichodontium pellucidum, photographed by Hermann Schachner.

Belongs within: Bryophyta.
Contains: Dicranoloma, Dicranum, Trematodon, Campylopus, Dicranella, Dicranoweisia, Cynodontium.

The Dicranaceae are a large family of mosses that generally have erect, often tomentose stems and narrow, lanceolate or falcate leaves (R. R. Ireland Jr). The circumscription of the family has varied somewhat between authors, with some groups such as Trematodontoideae sometimes treated as separate families. Within the Dicranaceae, members of the Dicranoideae are usually tall, branched mosses with leaves bearing enlarged, often inflated cells at angles. Dicranelloideae are mostly small and scarcely branched, without special angular cells in the leaves (Dixon 1924).

Characters (from Moss Flora of China): Plants small to robust, green to yellowish green or brownish green, in loose or dense, usually radiculose tufts. Stems often erect, simple or forked, rounded, rarely triangular, usually with central strand. Leaves in many rows, usually falcate-secund, mostly narrowly oblong-lanceolate, often broader at base, subulate in the upper half; margins plane or recurved, entire or serrulate to serrate; costa single, usually strong and long, ending near the leaf apex or excurrent, in cross section mostly with a row of median central guide cells; upper leaf cells variable in shape, smooth, rarely mammillose or papillose, lower laminal cells often elongate, alar cells often clearly differentiated. Dioicous or autoicous. Perichaetial leaves usually differentiated, sheathing at base. Setae mostly elongate, rarely very short, straight, flexuose or cygneous; capsules often exserted, erect, curved or inclined, ovoid, cylindric or pyriform, sometimes strumose at base; opercula generally differentiated, obliquely rostrate from a conic base; annuli present or absent, simple to complex; stomata present or absent; peristome teeth rarely lacking, usually present, well developed, 16, often reddish, dicranate to the middle, mostly lanceolate, deeply split into 2(–3) divisions, sometimes entire, vertically striate or smooth below, smooth or papillose above. Calyptrae cucullate, entire, smooth or sometimes fringed at base.

<==Dicranaceae [Dicraneae]
    |--Mesotus Mitt. 1867 SK02 [Mesotoideae O02]
    |    `--M. celatus Mitt. 1867 [incl. M. acutus Mitt. 1882] SK02
    |--Dicnemon Schwägr. 1824 SK02 [Dicnemonaceae, Dicnemonoideae O02]
    |    `--D. calycinum (Hooker) Schwägr. 1824 [=Dicnemos calycinus (l. c.)] SK02
    |--Dicranoideae [Paraleucobryoideae] O02
    |    |--Paraleucobryum O02
    |    `--Dicranum O02
    |--Trematodontoideae [Bruchiaceae, Trematodonteae] O02
    |    |--Trematodon O02
    |    `--Bruchia Schwägr. 1824 O02, SK02
    |         |--B. brevipes Harv. ex Hooker 1840 SK02
    |         |--B. eckloniana Müll.Hal. 1848 SK02
    |         `--B. queenslandica Stone 1977 SK02
    |--Campylopoideae [Brotheroideae] O02
    |    |--Campylopus O02
    |    |--Metzleria O02
    |    |--Pilopogon O02
    |    |--Sphaerothecium O02
    |    |--Bryohumbertia filifolia O02, J87
    |    |--Brothera leana O02, N02
    |    `--Dicranodontium Bruch & Schimp. 1847 O02, SK02
    |         |--D. caespitosum N02
    |         |--D. capillifolium N02
    |         |--D. didictyon N02
    |         |--D. longirostre [=Didymodon longirostrum; incl. Did. denudatus, Dicranum notabile] D24
    |         |    |--D. l. var. longirostre D24
    |         |    `--D. l. var. alpinum [=Campylopus alpinus] D24
    |         `--D. tapes (Müll.Hal.) Paris 1900 [=Dicranum tapes] SK02
    |--Dicranelloideae [Anisothecioideae, Campylopodioideae, Dicranelleae] O02
    |    |--Dicranella O02
    |    |--Aongstroemia orientalis O02, N02
    |    |--Aongstroemiopsis O02
    |    |--Pseudephemerum (Lindb.) Hagen 1910 O02, SK02
    |    |    `--P. nitidum (Hedw.) Reimers 1933 (see below for synonymy) SK02
    |    |--Polymerodon O02
    |    |--Microcampylopus O02
    |    |--Campylopodiella O02
    |    |--Microdus Schimp. 1872 O02, SK02
    |    |--Campylopodium (Müll.Hal.) Besch. 1873 O02, SK02
    |    |    |--C. integrum B57
    |    |    |--C. lineare (Mitt.) Dixon 1914 [incl. Cynodontium tasmanicum] SK02
    |    |    `--C. medium (Duby) Giese & Grahm 1985 [incl. C. euphorocladum, C. flexipes] SK02
    |    |--Anisothecium Mitt. 1869 O02, SK02
    |    |    |--A. patagonicum D03
    |    |    |--A. perpusillum Dusén 1903 D03
    |    |    `--A. rufipes D03
    |    `--Leptotrichella (Müll.Hal.) Lindb. 1865 SK02
    |         `--L. tenax (Müll.Hal.) Ochyra 1997 (see below for synonymy) SK02
    |              |--L. t. var. tenax SK02
    |              `--L. t. var. longipes (Müll.Hal.) Ochyra 1997 (see below for synonymy) SK02
    `--Oncophoroideae [Cynodontieae, Cynodontioideae, Rhabdoweisiaceae, Rhabdoweisieae, Rhabdoweisioideae] O02
         |  i. s.: ‘Dicranum’ ferrugineum (see below for synonymy) SK02
         |--Oreoweisia serrulata O02, D24
         |--Saelania caesia O02, D24 [=Bryum caesium D24; incl. Leptotrichum glaucescens D24]
         |--Holodontium (Mitt.) Broth. 1924 SK02
         |--Oncophorus fuegianus D03
         |--Dicranoweisia SK02
         |--Cynodontium D24
         |--Verrucidens Cardot 1908 SK02
         |    `--V. tortifolius (Hooker & Wilson) Reim. 1936 [=Blindia tortifolia] SK02
         |--Kiaeria Hagen 1915 SK02
         |    |--K. pumila (Mitt.) Ochyra 1993 [incl. Holodontium falcatum (R.Br.bis) Wijk & Margad. 1960] SK02
         |    `--K. starkei (Weber & Mohr) Hagen 1915 [=Dicranum starkei] SK02
         |--Amphidium Schimp. 1856 SK02
         |    |--A. remotidens (Müll.Hal.) Broth. 1902 (n. d.) (see below for synonymy) SK02
         |    `--A. tortuosum (Hornsch.) Cufod. 1951 (see below for synonymy) SK02
         |--Rhabdoweisia D24
         |    |--R. crenulata [=Oncophorus crenulatus, Didymodon crenulatus; incl. Leptodontium rossii] D24
         |    |--R. denticulata [incl. Oncophorus crispatus] D24
         |    `--R. fugax [incl. Oncophorus striatus] D24
         `--Dichodontium D24
              |--D. flavescens [=Bryum flavescens; incl. D. fulvescens, D. pellucidum var. serratum] D24
              |--D. jamesoni D03
              |--D. paludella D03
              `--D. pellucidum [=Bryum pellucidum] D24
                   |--D. p. var. pellucidum D24
                   |--D. p. var. fagimontanum D24
                   `--D. p. var. strictum D24

Dicranaceae incertae sedis:
  Cladophascum gymnomitrioides FHH01
  Symblepharis vaginata FHH01
  Atractylocarpus N02
    |--A. longisetus J87
    `--A. sinensis N02
  Dicranoloma SK02
  Eucamptodon Montagne 1845 SK02
    |--E. inflatus M49
    |--E. muelleri Hampe & Müll. Hal. 1870 [=Encamptodon (l. c.) muelleri] SK02
    |    |--E. m. var. muelleri (see below for synonymy) SK02
    |    `--E. m. var. norrisii Allen 1987 SK02
    `--E. scalarirete (Dixon) Tan, Ramsay & Schofield 1996 [=Acroporium scalarirete Dixon 1942] SK02
  Holomitrium Brid. 1826 SK02
    |--H. calycinum J87
    |--H. dietrichiae Müll.Hal. 1872 (n. d.) SK02
    |--H. perichaetiale (Hooker) Brid. 1826 (see below for synonymy) SK02
    |    |--H. p. var. perichaetiale (see below for synonymy) SK02
    |    `--H. p. var. robustum Broth. & Watts 1915 SK02
    `--H. vaginatum [incl. H. cylindraceum] SK02
  Sclerodontium Schwägr. 1824 SK02
    |--S. clavinerve (Müll.Hal.) Crum 1986 (see below for synonymy) SK02
    `--S. pallidum (Hooker) Schwägr. 1823 (see below for synonymy) SK02
  Dicnemoloma (Renauld) Renauld 1901 SK02
  Hollia Sieber 1826 SK02
  Leucoloma Brid. 1827 SK02
    |--L. bauerae (Müll.Hal.) Paris 1900 [=Dicranum bauerae] SK02
    |--L. circinatulum Bartram 1952 SK02
    |--L. molle (Müll.Hal.) Mitt. 1859 [incl. L. subintegrum Broth. 1891] SK02
    |--L. serrulatum J87
    `--L. tenuifolium B57

Nomina nuda: Anisothecium persquarrosum Dusén 1903 D03
             Dichodontium pellucidum var. compactum Schp. in Dixon 1924 D24
             Holomitrium corticola Broth. ex Müll.Hal. 1901 [=H. corticolum] SK02
             Holomitrium novae-valesiae Müll.Hal. ex Geh. 1876 SK02

Amphidium remotidens (Müll.Hal.) Broth. 1902 (n. d.) [=Zygodon remotidens, Amphoridium remotidens, Amphoridium maccanniae (n. n.), A. maclauniae (l. c.)] SK02

Amphidium tortuosum (Hornsch.) Cufod. 1951 [incl. Zygodon cyathicarpus, Amphidium cyathicarpum (Montagne) Broth. 1902, Amphoridium cyathicarpum, Didymodon cyathicarpus, Rhabdoweisia cyathicarpa] SK02

‘Dicranum’ ferrugineum [=Anisothecium ferrugineum, Blindia ferruginea (Wilson) Broth. 1901, Dichodontium ferrugineum, Ditrichum ferrugineum, Leptodontium ferrugineum (nom. inv.), Leptotrichum ferrugineum; incl. Blindia wellingtonii (n. n.)] SK02

Eucamptodon muelleri Hampe & Müll. Hal. 1870 var. muelleri [incl. Dicnemon enerve (n. n.), Eucamptodon hampeanus Müll.Hal. 1901 (n. n.), Dicnemon muellerianum Watts & Whitel. 1902 (nom. inv.), Dicnemos muelerianus, Hollia myrmecoa Sieber 1826 (n. n.), Leucodon perichaetialis Hampe ex Müll.Hal. 1901, Eucamptodon squarrosus Besch. 1873] SK02

Holomitrium perichaetiale (Hooker) Brid. 1826 [=Trichostomum perichaetiale, Sprucea perichaetialis, Symblepharis perichaetialis] SK02

Holomitrium perichaetiale (Hooker) Brid. 1826 var. perichaetiale [incl. Sclerodontium fraseri, Dicnemoloma fraseri (Mitt.) Renauld 1909, Dicnemonella fraseri (n. n.), Leucoloma fraseri, Holomitrium hodgkinsoniae, H. muelleri, H. hodgkinsoniae var. virescens, H. whiteleggei (nom. inv.)] SK02

Leptotrichella tenax (Müll.Hal.) Ochyra 1997 [=Angstroemia tenax, Dicranella tenax, Microdus tenax (Müll.Hal.) Paris 1900] SK02

Leptotrichella tenax var. longipes (Müll.Hal.) Ochyra 1997 [=Angstroemia tenax var. longipes, Dicranella tenax var. longipes, Microdus tenax var. longipes (Müll.Hal.) Paris 1900] SK02

Pseudephemerum nitidum (Hedw.) Reimers 1933 [incl. Ps. axillare, Phascum tenellum, Pleuridium tenellum, Pseudephemerum tenellum] SK02

Sclerodontium clavinerve (Müll.Hal.) Crum 1986 [=Dicnemoloma clavinerve (Müll.Hal.) Renauld 1909, Leucoloma clavinerve] SK02

Sclerodontium pallidum (Hooker) Schwägr. 1823 [=Leucodon pallidus, Dicnemoloma pallidum (Hooker) Wijk & Margad. 1960, Dicnemon pallidum, Dicnemonella pallida, Neckera pallida, Trematodon pallidus; incl. Leucoloma brachypelmatum (n. n.), Sclerodontium brachypelmatum Watts & Whitel. 1902 (n. n.), Dicranum hypnoides (nom. inv.), Leucoloma imbricatum, Dicnemoloma imbricatum (Broth. & Geh.) Renauld 1909, Dicnemoloma incanum, Leucoloma incanum, Leucoloma sieberianum f. longipila, Leucoloma sieberi f. rigida Bailey 1888 (n. n.), Leucoloma sieberianum f. rigida Broth. ex Bailey 1913 (n. n.), Dicnemoloma sieberi (nom. illeg.), Leucoloma sieberi (nom. illeg.), Dicranum sieberianum, Dicnemoloma sieberianum, Leucoloma sieberianum, Dicnemoloma strictipilum (Müll.Hal.) Renauld 1909] SK02

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[B57] Bartram, E. B. 1957. Additional Fijian mosses, III. Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences 46 (12): 392–396.

[D24] Dixon, H. N. 1924. The Student's Handbook of British Mosses 3rd ed. V. V. Sumfield: Eastbourne.

[D03] Dusén, P. 1903. Patagonian and Fuegian mosses. In: Scott, W. B. (ed.) Reports of the Princeton University Expeditions to Patagonia, 1896–1899 vol. 8. Botany pp. 63–126. The University: Princeton (New Jersey).

[FHH01] Frey, W., M. Hofmann & H. H. Hilger. 2001. The gametophyte-sporophyte junction: unequivocal hints for two evolutionary lines of archegoniate land plants. Flora 196: 431–445.

[J87] Judd, W. S. 1987. Floristic study of Morne La Visite and Pic Macaya National Parks, Haiti. Bulletin of the Florida State Museum—Biological Sciences 32 (1): 1–136.

[M49] Martin, W. 1949. Distribution of the mosses indigenous to New Zealand (supplement no. 1). Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand 77 (3): 355–360.

[N02] Negi, H. R. 2002. Abundance and diversity of moss communities of Chopta-Tunganath in the Garhwal Himalaya. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 99 (3): 418–433.

[O02] Ochyra, R. 2002. Nomenclatural changes in subfamilies of the Dicranaceae. Cryptogamie, Bryologie 23 (4): 345–349.

[SK02] Streimann, H., & N. Klazenga. 2002. Catalogue of Australian Mosses. Flora of Australia Supplementary Series 17. Australian Biological Resources Study: Canberra.

Last updated: 22 December 2017.