Fissidentaceae

Diagnosis: Plants small, to ca. 5 mm tall, often ± reddish. Leaves 1-2 x 0.1-0.35 mm, acute to acuminate, vaginant laminae ± unequal; margins crenulate-serrulate to serrate, elimbate; costa percurrent to short-excurrent, ca. 22-40 µm wide at apex of vaginant laminae; cells hexagonal to oblong, 10-25 µm, mammilose-unipapillose, unistratose throughout.

Distribution: South America

Ecology: In non-flooded moist lowland forest, rare at higher elevations, 80-2900 m, on soil and termite mounds.

Notes: The only other elimbate, unipapillose species in our area is F. allionii which generally has a wider costa than F. prionodes as well as irregularly bistratose laminae.

Type Citation: Annales des Sciences Naturelles; Botanique, sér. 2, 3: 200. pl. 3: f. 1. 1835.

Type Locality: French Guiana. Pres des sources du Jary

Type Collection: Leprieur s.n.,

Other Published Figures: P. A. Florschutz. 1964. Musci. Flora of Surinam 6(1): 1-271. fig. 16a-h