Sematophyllum
| Sematophyllum | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Division: | Bryophyta |
| Class: | Bryopsida |
| Subclass: | Bryidae |
| Order: | Hypnales |
| Family: | Sematophyllaceae |
| Genus: | Sematophyllum Mitt. |
Sematophyllum is the type genus of the family Sematophyllaceae.[1] It contains about 170 species.[2] Sematophyllum was described by William Mitten in 1864.[3]
Sematophyllum demissum was designated as the type species by Max Fleischer in 1923.[4]
Etymology
The name is derived from 'semato', meaning "marked" and 'phyllon', meaning "leaf". The name refers to the enlarged alar cells that are characteristic of the genus.[5]
Morphology
Sematophyllum is often found in dense mats with creeping branches that are sparsely to freely-but-irregularly branched and densely foliate. Branch cross-section exhibits small, thick-walled cells surrounding larger thinner-walled cells with no central strand. Leaves are monomorphic between the stem and branch: arranged erect-spreading to homomallous to falcate-secund, lanceolate to ovate, acute to acuminate (rarely obtuse); margins are entire to serrulate distally and subentire proximally; costa absent or short and double. Laminal cells are rhomboidal to linear, smooth or rarely unipapillose, often becoming shorter in the apical region. Alar cells are enlarged and inflated, usually colored. Setae are smooth and usually reddish. Capsules are ovoid to short-cylindric with collenchymatous exothecial cells. Peristome is double, with triangular exostome teeth.[6][7]
Range
Sematophyllum has a cosmopolitan distribution, having been found on every continent except Antarctica.[8]
Position within the family
Sematophyllaceae is a monophyletic family within Hypnales with two phylogenetically supported subfamilies, Wijkioideae and Sematophylloideae.[9] Sematophyllum has been described as the "dregs" of Sematophyllaceae, being "characterized by the lack of various specialized features."[6] Many genera within Sematophyllaceae are paraphyletic, including Sematophyllum, and it is the subject of ongoing scholarship.[10]
References
- ^ "Sematophyllaceae Broth". Tropicos. Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 1 November 2025.
- ^ "A Synopsis of Sematophyllum". The Bryophyte Nomenclator. Retrieved 1 November 2025.
- ^ Mitten, William (1865). "Contributions to the Cryptogamic Flora of the Atlantic Islands". The Journal of the Linnean Society, Botany. 8: 3–10. Retrieved 1 November 2025.
- ^ Fleischer, Max (1923). Die Musci der Flora von Buitenzorg: zugleich Laubmoosflora von Java [The Moss of the Flora of Buitsenzorg: also Deciduous Moss Flora of Java] (PDF) (in German). Leiden: Brill. p. 1261. Retrieved 10 January 2026.
- ^ "Sematophyllum Mitt". Tropicos. Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 1 November 2025.
- ^ a b Buck, William R. (1998). "Pleurocarpous Mosses of the West Indies". Memoirs of the New York Botanic Garden. 82. The New York Botanical Garden: 367–368. ISSN 0071-5794.
- ^ "Sematophyllum Mitt". World Flora Online. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
- ^ "Sematophyllum Mitt". GBIF. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
- ^ Hedenäs, Lars; Buck, William R. (1999). "A Phylogenetic Analysis of the Sematophyllaceae". Lindbergia. 24 (3): 103–132. JSTOR 20150016. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
- ^ Carvalho-Silva, Micheline; Stech, Michael; Soares-Silva, Lucia Helena; Buck, William R.; Wickett, Norman J.; Liu, Yang; Câmara, Paulo E.A.S. (August 2017). "A molecular phylogeny of the Sematophyllaceae s.l. (Hypnales) based on plastid, mitochondrial and nuclear markers, and its taxonomic implications". Taxon. 66 (4): 811–831. Bibcode:2017Taxon..66..811C. doi:10.12705/664.2. JSTOR 26824567. Retrieved 9 January 2026.