Notoligotrichum minimum G. L. Smith 1971

Notoligotrichum minimum

Notoligotrichum minimum (Card.) G. L. Smith, Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 21 (3):51, 1971.

Polytrichadelphus minimus Card., Bull. Herb. Boiss. ser. 2, 5:1008, 1905. [Original material: Tierra del Fuego; Bahia Tekenika, coll. Skottsberg n. 135.]

Psilopilum minimum (Card.) G. L. Smith, Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 96:67, 1969.

Stems to 1 cm tall. Leaves somewhat incurved, contorted when dry, erect-spreading when moist; lower leaves ovate to broadly lanceolate, acuminate, 1.5–2.0 mm long, to 0.8 mm broad; mature leaves to 3 mm long, base 1 mm broad, subula to 2.0 mm long and 0.8 mm broad, base oblong to oblong-elliptical, subula broadly lanceolate, apex short-acute, margin entire; costa subpercurrent, ca. 150 μm wide below, becoming broader above, 30–40 lamellae 3–4 cells high, borne adaxially on costa and adjacent bistratose lamina; lamella margins entire, cells quadrate 12–17 μm in diameter, marginal row papillose but the same shape; outer lamina unistratose with cells rounded to subquadrate mostly 12 μm wide and 12–20 μm long, thick-walled; cells of upper leaf base similar but slightly larger; most cells of base short-rectangular, 12–17 μm wide, 25–60 μm long, rather thin-walled, 1–2 rows of somewhat more hyaline cells along lower margin ca. 10 μm wide, 50–75 μm long. Perichaetial leaves only slightly differentiated, to 3.5 mm long with basal half sheathing, shoulders of sheath sometimes indistinctly serrulate. Setae 1.5–2.5 cm long, reddish brown. Capsule inclined to horizontal, urn broadly ovate, to 5 mm long by 3 mm wide, not angled, mouth narrowed to ca. 1 mm wide, exothecial cells irregularly hexagonal, smooth; stomata superficial, confined to basal series; peristome teeth 32, of varying length, very narrow, acute, basal membrane as high as teeth, to 50 μm. Operculum rostrate to near half as long as urn. Calyptra pilose with short hairs at apex. Spores ca. 20 μm in diameter, minutely, densely papillose.

MAS AFUERA: Los Torres, Sk. 469 (not seen).

Smith (1968) has established the identity of the specimen on the basis of the portion deposited at the New York Botanical Garden. The specimen was originally determined by Brotherus as P. trichodon (Hook. f. & Wils.) Mitt. (= P. antarcticum (C. Müll.) Par.), a species supposedly differing by the crenulate nonpapillose margins of its lamellae. Notoligotrichum minimum is known only from Fuegia and Juan Fernandez.