8.
Weissia ludoviciana
(Sullivant) W. D. Reese & B. A. E. Lemmon, Bryologist. 68: 282. 1965.
Phascum ludovicianum
Sullivant in A. Gray, Manual ed. 2, 616. 1856;
Astomum ludovicianum
(Sullivant) Sullivant
Leaves
long-lanceolate, base long-elliptic or narrowly ovate, shoulders absent, distal laminal margins plane or erect, apex broadly channeled, acute, mucro very strong, of 7-10(-14) cells; costal adaxial stereid band smaller than the abaxial; distal laminal cells 8-10(-12) µm wide.
Sexual condition
rhizautoicous.
Seta
short, 0.08-0.015 cm not including the vaginula.
Capsule
cleistocarpic, ovoid with a short-rostrate apiculus.
Capsules mature fall-spring. Moist soil, fields, among grasses, roadside banks; low to moderate elevations; Ala., Ark., Fla., Ky., La., Miss., N.C., S.C., Tex., Va., W.Va.
The gametophyte of
Weissia ludoviciana
is quite like that of
W. brachycarpa
. If it has a hybrid origin, then the archegoniate parent is the latter species.
Weissia ludoviciana
,
W. muehlenbergiana
, and
W. phascopsis
are similar in the short-seta, cleistocarpic capsules and long-lanceolate leaves, but differ most constantly in the traits given in the key. Additional differences observed, which may prove inconstant on revision, are:
W. ludoviciana
is rhizautoicous, with antheridia in extremely small, serrate-leaved buds, on soil near base of the archegoniophore, the capsule has stomates and a weakly differentiated annulus of 3-4 rows of smaller cells, and the calyptra is ca. 1 mm;
W. muehlenbergiana
is cladautoicous, the capsule lacks stomates and an annulus is not distinguishable, and the calyptra is 0.5-0.6 mm;
W. phascopsis
is cladautoicous, the capsule has stomates and the annulus somewhat differentiated as a ridge, and the calyptra is 1.2-1.4 mm. The hybrid
Weissia ludoviciana
×
W. controversa
was reported by W. D. Reese and B. E. Lemmon (1965).
