Hypnaceae
Vesicularia vesicularis (Scwagrichen) Brotherus
Kingdom: Plantae Rank: Species Parent: Vesicularia Status: Valid
Morphological Description
Diagnosis: Plants smallish to medium-sized. Stems often fragile. Stem leaves triangular, 0.8-1.2 mm long, gradually acuminate; margins entire to serrulate, plane; cells long-hexagonal, broad, 4-6:1, becoming broader and rectangular toward the insertion. Dorsal and lateral branch leaves ovate to broadly oblong-lanceolate, 0.7-0.95 mm long, apiculate to gradually acuminate; margins entire to serrulate, plane; cells lax, hexagonal to long-hexagonal, 1-3.5:1, smooth, becoming shorter to rectangular toward the insertion; ventral leaves sometimes differentiated, if so, then narrower, longer acuminate, and with narrower, longer cells, 1-8:1. Setae 1.2-2 cm long; capsule symmetric to asymmetric, ca. 1 mm long. Spores 11-14 µm diameter.
Other
Distribution: Central America; Caibbean; Western and Northern South America
Ecology: Vesicularia vesicularis grows on a wide range of moist substrates from limestone and mud to rotting logs
Notes: It is an extremely variable taxon with several varieties recognized although only two, var. vesicularis and var. rutilans (Bridel) W. R. Buck, are known from our area. Buck (1998), although recognizing both of the above varieties, was not convinced of their biological significance and expressed that they may be no more than ecological modifications to different habitats.
Typification
Basionym: Hypnum vesiculare Schwägr.
Basionym Citation: Species Muscorum Frondosorum, Supplementum Secundum 2(2): 167. 199. 1827.
Other Published Figures: W. R. Buck. 1998. Pleurocarpous mosses of the West Indies. Plate 122 (6-12).