1.
Chenia leptophylla
(Müller Hal.) R. H. Zander, Bull. Buffalo Soc. Nat. Sci. 32: 258. 1993.
Phascum leptophyllum
Müller Hal., Flora 71: 6. 1888;
Chenia rhizophylla
(Sakurai) R. H. Zander;
Tortula rhizophylla
(Sakurai) Z. Iwatsuki & K. Saito;
T. vectensis
E. F. Warburg & Crundwell
Stems
seldom branching; rounded in transverse section; rhizoids usually few.
Leaves
ligulate to elliptic, apex acute or rounded acute and apiculate with an elongate, brownish, thick-walled cell, costa percurrent or subpercurrent; proximal laminal cells ca. 20-25 µm wide, 2-4:1.
Brood bodies
sometimes present, borne on rhizoids in soil, clavate, ca. 100-130 µm.
Sporophytes
not known from North America.
Found on bare soil in disturbed, open areas; low to high elevations (0-200 m); Ala., La., N.Mex.; Mexico; South America (Bolivia, Brazil); Europe; s Africa; Australia; Pacific Islands (Hawaii).
Chenia leptophylla
is one of a mundivagant group that is apparently distributed in association with human activities (P. M. Eckel 1986). The small brood bodies on rhizoids in the soil seem to be the agency for asexual reproduction. The very thin-walled distal laminal cells may appear bright yellow-green in KOH, but examination under the compound microscope reveals brick red walls. The elongate, thick-walled, reflexed cell forming the leaf apiculus is unique and immediately diagnostic.
