Cheilolejeunea laevicalyx Grolle 1988
Creators: name: Gil-Novoa, Jorge Enrique
name: Costa, Denise Pinheiro
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Marchantiophyta
Jungermanniopsida
Porellales
Lejeuneaceae
Cheilolejeunea
Cheilolejeunea laevicalyx

description: 17. Cheilolejeunea laevicalyx (Jack & Stephani) Grolle (1988: 403).—
Strepsilejeunea laevicalyx Jack & Stephani (in Stephani 1913: 283).
Type:— COLOMBIA. Antioquia: Páramo de Sonson, 3300 m, Wallis 1872 (G, lectotype designated by Grolle 1988).— Fig. 12A–I.
Cheilolejeunea invaginata Schuster (1978: 427) syn. fide Gradstein & Bastos (2021)
Plants yellowish to light brown, 1–1.5 mm wide. Stems in cross section 130–150 µm in diameter, 8–12 epidermal cells, 24–40 × 12–20 µm; 15–20 medullary cells, 8–20 × 6–15 µm. Ventral merophytes 2–4 cells wide. Leaves imbricate to subimbricate, ovate to oblong-orbicular, 720–900 × 500–550 µm, convex, apex recurved, margin entire and apex acute, ventral margin curved; cells hexagonal, smooth to slightly mammillose on the dorsal side, trigones inconspicuous to conspicuous; basal cells 18–40 × 10–22 µm, median cells 12–30 × 11–16 µm, marginal cells 9–16 × 10–14 µm. Lobules trapezoid-rectangular to oblong, 1/3–2/5 of leaf length, free margin flat, generally with two teeth, first tooth blunt, second tooth usually indistinct. Underleaves remote to contiguous, orbicular to ovate, 300–530 × 300–550 µm, 3–5 × stem width, bifid to 1/4–1/3 with a V-shaped sinus, margin entire, bases cuneate to slightly rounded. Autoicous. Androecia on the main stem, with 1–3 pairs of bracts orbicular. Gynoecia on the main stem or on branches, with lejeuneoid innovations, bracts obovate, 800 × 550 µm, apex acute, lobule 350 × 110 µm, apex acuminate; bracteoles oblong 800 × 550 µm, bifid to 1/5. Perianth 4-keeled to terete, obovate to elongate pyriform, beak absent or very short. Vegetative reproduction unknown.
Distribution and habitat:—Andean, occurring in the northern and central Andes, in Colombia, Ecuador, and Bolivia (Zhu 2006, Gradstein & Bastos 2021). This species grows on tree trunks and the branches of shrubs in the study area, in upper montane rainforest and grass páramos, between 2500–3600 m, in the Magdalena province of the Pacific dominion, and in the Páramo province of SATZ (Fig. 13).
Notes:—Recognized by the rather robust plants, yellowish to light brown, with merophyte 2–4 cells wide, leaves recurved at the apex, apex acute, with smooth cells with inconspicuous trigones. Morphologically resembles C. erostrata, although C. laevicalyx has inconspicuous trigones, underleaf bases cuneate to slightly rounded (not Ushaped), and lejeuneoid innovations (not pycnolejeuneoid).
In their description of C. laevicalyx, Gradstein & Bastos (2021) noted the presence of the species in Costa Rica. We studied one specimen in the ALCB herbarium from Costa Rica that had previously been identified as C. laevicalyx – it actually belongs to C. lobulata. Therefore, we consider the record of the species from Costa Rica as doubtful.
Specimens examined:— COLOMBIA. Boyacá: Aquitania, páramo de Toquilla, 5°31’12.5’’ N, 72°49’16.3’’ W, 3066 m, 7 December 2021, Gil-Novoa & Costa, 3677 (UPTC); Ventaquemada, Páramo de Rabanal, 05°24’53,3”N, 73°32’35,6”W, 3330 m, 15 February 2019, Acosta 112, 115 (UPTC); 8-10 January 2015, Hernández-Ruiz 47, 71, 87, 122, 129, 271 (UPTC). Cundinamarca: Bogotá, Ciudad Bolivar, May 2014, Cabrera 1716A-2, 1786A-2, 1788A-1 (JBB); Páramo El Tablazo, 3500 m, 20 October 1988, Thiers 5494, 5504 (NY), 20 December 1988, Schuster 88-982 (COL).
description: Published as part of Gil-Novoa, Jorge Enrique & Costa, Denise Pinheiro, 2023, Synopsis of the species of Cheilolejeunea (Marchantiophyta, Lejeuneaceae) in the Pacific dominion and Páramo province of tropical America, pp. 73-120 in Phytotaxa 587 (2) on pages 97-99, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.587.2.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7731813