| | The moss families (Bryophyta, Musci) of Britain and Ireland |
In Dixon’s Hypnaceae
Gametophyte. Pleurocarpous; forming tufts (the large, glossy, golden-yellow, dense tufts readily falling apart). Primary stems procumbent (stoloniform, the secondary stems crowded, erect, julaceous when moist, to about 6 cm). Paraphyllia absent. Pseudoparaphyllia absent. Stems without a differentiated central strand. The leaves oblong to ovate (imbricate, glossy, very concave); spiral; nerveless. Leaf blade apices pointed; acuminate. Leaf blade margins distally involute or incurved (flat below); denticulate. The basal leaf cells somewhat longitudinally elongated to longitudinally much elongated; hexagonal; smooth. The walls of basal leaf cells thick; sinuous. The angular cells clearly differentiated (forming slight auricles). The mid-leaf cells longitudinally much elongated; vermicular; smooth. The walls of the mid-leaf cells thick; sinuous.
Sporophyte. Capsules exserted; symmetrical; straight; ellipsoid; without an annulus. Calyptra symmetrical; splitting down one side. Capsules dehiscing via a lid; with a peristome. The peristome double. The peristome teeth thin, membranous, and transversely barred (not papillose). The inner peristome reduced; with a basal membranous ring (or consisting of the short membrane only); without “processes”. The operculum rostellate. Setae long, smooth.
Ecology. Growing on soil.
Representation in Britain and Ireland. 1 species. Myurium (Hare-tail Moss). Northern Scotland (common in the Outer Hebrides, less so in the Inner Hebrides, also occurring on the coast of W. Inverness and W. Sutherland).
Classification. Class Bryopsida; Subclass Bryideae; Order Hypnales.
Comments. The leaves cochleariform, contracted into a long, linear-piliform point, basally hollowed and somewhat auricled.
Illustrations. • Myuriaceae (Myuria), and Theliaceae (Myurella): Dixon. MYURIACEAE: A, Myurium hochstetteri (Schimp.) Kindb. THELIACEAE: B, Myurella julacea Br. Eur.; C, Myurella tenerrima (Brid.) Lindb.
From Dixon and Jameson (1924), the unscaled screen display approximately doubling the magnifications given with their individual figures. 1, leaf or stem leaf where these differ; 2, branch-leaf; 3, perichaetial leaf; 4, perigonial leaf; 5, capsule; 6, peristome; 7, calyptra; 8, spores; 9, inflorescence; 10, gemmae; 11, paraphyllia; 12, stoma of capsule; *, plant, or part of one. Qualifications: a, apex; b, base; c, cells at one third from the apex; cv, ventral aspect of cells; cd, dorsal aspect of cells; bc, basal cells; x, section.
From Dixon and Jameson (1924). The unscaled screen display approximately doubles the magnifications given with their individual figures. Myurium hochstetteri. MYURIACEAE. Myurella julacea. THELIACEAE. Myurella tenerrima.
We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2005 onwards. The moss families (Bryophyta, Musci) of Britain and Ireland. Version: 5th August 2019. delta-intkey.com’.
