Seligeriaceae

Blindia acuta, photographed by Michael Lüth.

Belongs within: Bryophyta.

The Seligeriaceae are a small family of mosses found in temperate and polar regions. Genera in the family include Blindia, mosses with rigid, lanceolate-subulate leaves found growing in tufts on mountain rocks (Dixon 1924).

Characters (from D. H. Vitt): Plants minute and gregarious or larger, forming compact tufts and cushions, unbranched to rarely 2-3-branched, on rock, acrocarpous. Leaves twisted-spreading to stiffly erect when dry, generally erect-spreading to spreading, sometimes slightly curved when moist, linear to stoutly subulate from clasping base; margins plane, entire to denticulate; costa single, homogenous in transverse-section, ending near the apex to long-excurrent, distal leaf cells smooth, short; alar cells not differentiated to somewhat enlarged and colored. Seta straight, flexuose or cygneous. Capsule mostly erect, symmetric, cylindric-ovate to turbinate; peristome haplolepideous, of 16 triangular entire teeth or lacking.

<==Seligeriaceae [Seligeriales, Seligerieae, Seligerioideae]
    |--Brachyodus trichodes [=Gymnostomum trichodes, Brachydontium trichodes] D24
    |--Brachydontium Fürnr. 1827 SK02
    |    `--B. intermedium Stone 1973 SK02
    |--Seligeria Bruch & Schimp. 1846 SK02
    |    |--S. acutifolia [=S. pusilla var. acutifolia] D24
    |    |    |--S. a. var. acutifolia D24
    |    |    `--S. a. var. longiseta D24
    |    |--S. calcarea [=Bryum calcareum] D24
    |    |--S. cardotii Brown 1898 SK02
    |    |--S. diminuta M49
    |    |--S. doniana [=Gymnostomum donianum, Anodus donianus] D24
    |    |--S. paucifolia [=Bryum paucifolium; incl. S. subcernua] D24
    |    |--S. pusilla [=Afzelia pusilla] D24
    |    |--S. recurvata [=Grimmia recurvata; incl. S. setacea] D24
    |    `--S. tristicha [=Weisia tristicha; incl. S. trifaria] D24
    `--Blindia Bruch & Schimp. 1846 SK02
         |--B. acuta SK02 [=Bryum acutum D24]
         |    |--B. a. var. acuta D24
         |    `--B. a. var. trichodes [=Dicranum trichodes] D24
         |--B. auriculata D03
         |--B. caespiticia [=Anoectangium caespiticium, Stylostegium caespiticium] D24
         |--B. churuccana D03
         |--B. contecta D03
         |--B. humilis D03
         |--B. leptotrichocarpa D03
         |    |--B. l. var. leptotrichocarpa D03
         |    `--B. l. var. strictiuscula D03
         |--B. lygodipoda D03
         |--B. magellanica Schimp. 1862 [incl. B. arcuata, B. acuta var. curviseta] SK02
         |--B. robusta Hampe 1860 [incl. B. tasmanica, B. tenuifolia] SK02
         |--B. savatieriana D03
         `--B. seppeltii Bartlett & Vitt 1986 SK02

Nomina nuda: Blindia globularis Dusén 1903 D03
             Blindia pseudo-robusta Dusén 1903 D03
             Blindia sulphurea Dusén 1903 D03

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[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).

[M49] Martin, W. 1949. The bryophytes of Stewart Island.—Part I. Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand 77 (2): 257–277.

[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.