Fissidentaceae

Diagnosis: Plants small, to ca. 8 mm tall. Leaves ca. 1.7 x 0.3 mm, acute to bluntly acute, vaginant laminae unequal; margins entire to crenulate-serrulate, elimbate except on vaginant laminae of perichaetial leaves and those immediately subtending; costa percurrent to short-excurrent; cells hexagonal, 11-20 µm in diameter, smooth to bulging.

Distribution: Southeastern U.S.; Mexico; Central America; Caribbean, Western and Northern South America, Brazil; Eastern Asia; Indo-China, Malesia; Australia

Ecology: In lowland to premontane forest, 10-2200 m, mostly on bases of trees and small shrubs, less often on rock, soil and termite mounds.

Notes: Fissidens pellucidus is the only elimbate, nonpapillose species in our area. The plants are generally light green and red-tinged in the costa and stem. The smooth laminal cells contain guttulae that can be mistaken for papillae.

Type Citation: Linnaea 15: 146. 1841.

Type Locality: Surinam

Type Collection: Weigelt

Other Published Figures: E. B. Bartram. 1949. Mosses of Guatamala. fig. 6 A-B; Crum & Anderson. 1981. Mosses of Eastern N.A. fig. 37 G-I