Jennings: Manual of Mosses — 27. Neckeraceae 187 



1. Neckera Hedwig 



Autoicous or dioicous, rarely synoicous: mostly more or less robust, ces- 

 pitose, green to yellowish or brownish, somewhat lustrous: primary stems often 

 stoloniferous, paraphyllia mostly none; leaves on the filiform shoots small, 

 ecostate, sym.metric, concave; normal leaves either 1 -seriate, the dorsal and 

 ventral alternately turned to the side, the lateral spreading, or 4-seriate, the 

 dorsal and ventral series lacking, leaves often transversely undulate, unsym- 

 metric, rugose, more or less spatulose from a broader and shortly decurrent 

 base, acute to obtuse or truncate; costa various, upper leaf-cells rounded to 

 rhombic, the lower linear, the alar differentiated, small and quadrate; peri- 

 chaetial leaves high-sheathing, narrow, long-acuminate: capsule oval or elliptic, 

 immersed to exserted; annulus none; peristome double, inserted far back; 

 peristome-teeth lance-linear, often basally striate, low-trabeculate, sometimes 

 split along the divisural; basal segments 16, the basal membrane mostly very 

 low; cilia none; calyptra mostly cucullate and with erect hairs; spores medium, 

 mostly brownish, papillose. 



A widely distributed genus of about 130 species; about 20 species reported 

 for North America; two species definitely known for our region. 



Key to the Species 



A. Leaves rounded and usually apiculate at the apex ....B 



A. Leaves strongly undulate, acute to acun-.inatc; perichaeti'jm longer than seta and cap- 

 sule I. N. pennata 



B. Leaves undulate L (N. pennata var. oligocarpa) 



B. Leaves not undulate C 



C. Plants rather robust; leaves complanate; seta 7-10 mm long, exceeding the peri- 



chaetium 2. N. complanata 



C. Plants very slender; leaves not complanate 3. N: gracilis 



1. Neckera pennata [Linnaeus] Hedwig 



(Fontinalis pennata Linnaeus) 



Large with primary stems creeping, often stoloniferous, the secondary stems 

 6 to 8 or 10 cm long, erect, pinnate or nearly simple; leaves lance-ovate, acute 

 to acuminate, more or less undulate above, the margins entire or slightly den- 

 ticulate; costa short and faint, more or less bi-striate and wrinkled; median 

 leaf-cells linear at base, towards the apex the upper marginal and apical 

 broadly rhomboid; inner perichaetial leaves entire, half-sheathing, elongate- 

 lanceolate, reaching somewhat beyond the capsule; seta very short; capsule 

 immersed, yellowish, oblong-oval, brown when old, about 2.5:1; lid acute-conic 

 or acuminate; calyptra very small and covering only the operculum; peristome 

 double, teeth irregularly divided, subulate-linear from a lance-linear base, some- 

 times apically coherent, the segments rudimentary and very short; spores in 

 summer. 



On trees or on moist rocks in cool, moist woods, usually on the trunks of 

 deciduous trees; widely distributed in temperate regions, in North America 

 extending from lower Canada south to North Carolina. Probably rather 

 common in the eastern part of our region. 



Cambria Co.: Crefson. T. C. Porter. (Porter's Catalogue). McKean Co.: D. A. 

 Burnett. (Porter's Catalogue) . 



