19621 



LEAFY HEPATICAE OF LATIN AMERICA — PART I 



33 



Lepicolea Dumortier, Recueil Obs. Jungerm. 20. 1835. 



J ungermaiuiia auctt. p.p. 



Herbertus S. F. Gray, Nat. Arr. Brit. PI. 1: 678, 705. 1821. 

 Schisma auctt. pp. 

 Sendtnera auctt. p.p. 



Lepcroma Mitten, in J. D. Hooker, Handb. N. Zeal. Fl. 754. 1867. 



Plants large, coarse, tending to be radially symmetric, yellow-brown to dark 

 brown, with or without stem paraphyllia, regularly pinnate or bipinnate ; lateral 

 branches of limited growth, numerous, of the Frullania type with the half-leaf 

 dorsal, or rarely axillary-intercalary, spreading, decurved in the outer parts, 

 often becoming attenuate with smaller, trifid or bifid leaves and underleaves, to 

 flagelliform with scale-like leaves ; stem in transverse section with a cortical band 

 of one or two to four layers of very thick-walled cells surrounding the medulla 

 of larger cells with thick walls, trigones, and pits. Rhizoids colorless, from the 

 scales of the flagelliform branches, rarely from the underleaves. Line of leaf 

 insertion transverse, or oblique with the leaves incubous. Leaves large symmetric 

 or asymmetric, rectangular, bisbifid (rarely bi- or trifid) to one-half of their 

 length, the middle cleft always the deepest; segments lanceolate, undivided to 

 ciliate-laeiniate, the tips uniseriate, often long and hyaline; margins of the 

 lamina entire to ciliate or laeiniate ; leaf-cells large, tending to be in rows, with 

 thick walls, large trigones and deep pits, often with a band of additional thicken- 

 ing, a vitta of larger cells often present, the cuticle verruculose to striolate. 

 Underleaves symmetric, bisbifid, scarcely smaller than the leaves. Branch leaves 

 and underleaves smaller, usually with one segment less than those of the stem. 

 Plants dioicous or monoicous. Male inflorescence terminal or intercalary on a 

 vegetative branch, the bracts pouched, the bracteoles plane ; antheridia one or 

 two in the axils of the bracts, globose, the stalk long, of two rows of cells ; para- 

 physes occasional. Female inflorescence terminal on the stem or a leading branch, 

 with one to three innovations, the bracts and bracteoles in several series, similar 

 to the leaves and underleaves, larger, the inner series becoming fragmented as 

 scales on the developing coelocaule; archegonia eight to many (54+), among 

 paraphyllia, bracts, bracteoles, and paraphyses at the tip of the stem. Perianth 

 absent. Sporophyte enclosed in a thick-walled coelocaule covered with scales 

 and paraphyllia ; sporophyte foot inverted-cone-shaped, deeply embedded in the 

 stem ; seta short, in transverse section with an outer ring of 32 large cells sur- 

 rounding a greater number of slightly larger cells. Capsule dehiscing by four 

 valves, the old valves often splitting further; capsule wall of five layers with 

 characteristic wall thickenings; elaters long, slender, with solid, tapering ends 

 and a bispiral or unispiral middle part ; spores reddish-brown, finely to coarsely 

 spinose. Sporeling with a globose protomena. 



Type species: Jungermannia scolopendra W. J. Hooker. 



Of the nine species recognized in the genus six are recorded from South 

 America. At least three of the species have an Antarctic distribution and occur 

 also in New Zealand or Australia or Tasmania, and one of them is also found in 

 South Africa. 



Key to the Species 



1. Stems without paraphyllia. 



2. Leaf segments without laciniae or cilia, entire, ending in a uniseriate hyaline tip 



to 12 cells long, the end cell to 180 n, the cuticle striate. 1. L. scolopendra. 



2. Leaf segments with scattered laciniae and cilia. 



