Cryptochila R.M.Schust.
Cryptochila R.M.Schust. J. Hatt. Bot. Lab. 26: 284. 1963.
Type: Cryptochila pseudocclusa (E.A.Hodgs.) R.M.Schust. (≡Jamesoniella pseudocclusa E.A.Hodgs.)
Plants erect, deep green or reddish brown to fuscous, often nitid, vigorous, to 2.5 mm wide and 10 cm long, clearly divided into a system of rhizoidous leafless stolons and stiffly erect or ascending leafy shoots of determinate height. Branching sparing, the branches ventral-intercalary; Frullania -type branching lacking (sporadic on ♂ plants in Cryptochila pseudocclusa); stoloniform branches frequent, strongly geotropic, originating just above point of origin of leafy, phototropic branches. Stems rigid, with 2–3(4) strata of thick-walled, brown to fuscous (at maturity) cells smaller in diameter than medullary cells; paraphyllia often present, vestigial. Rhizoids scarce, usually restricted to stolons. Leaves alternate, often subvertical, erect to widely spreading, transversely oriented, inserted on an asymmetric, acroscopically convex line, undivided and entire, the apex rounded. Cells in median sector often hexagonal, the walls firm, evenly thick-walled and lacking trigones or with trigones large and bulging (but not nodulose); peripheral sectors of leaves with cells mostly subquadrate, with walls evenly thick-walled; median-basal cells elongated (ca. 2–4:1), evenly thick-walled or with coarse trigones; surface smooth, except sometimes basally (often delicately striate-papillose in C. grandiflora). Oil-bodies 2–12 per cell, finely to coarsely papillose, at times lacking in marginal/submarginal cells. Underleaves vestigial, consisting of an ephemeral cilium or 2–4 such cilia, or a filiform rudiment often connate at base with a lateral leaf. Asexual reproduction absent.
Dioecious. Androecia eventually intercalary, with 4–5 or more pairs of bracts, the bracts smaller than leaves, the dorsal margin with or without a discrete lobule; paraphyllia often present; antheridia 1 per bract, the stalk 2-seriate. Gynoecia often innovating, the innovations repeatedly gynoecial; subinvolucral bracts leaf-like, but distal 2(3) series of bracts progressively smaller, in inner gyre one bract often much reduced; innermost bracts polymorphic, often unequal in size, coarsely dentate/lobulate at least basally, free, ventrally often with 1–2 coarse lobes; bracteole free or nearly so, similarly polymorphous, often bilobed and toothed/laciniate, to 0.65–0.9 length of bracts. Perianth long-emergent at maturity, contracted to the deeply (5)6–12-plicate mouth, distally often twisted; mouth weakly crenulate or entire; perianth 2–several-stratose in basal half, firm.
Capsule ellipsoidal, the wall thick, of 5–7 layers; outer layer of cells ca. 2× height of each inner stratum, with well-developed nodular thickenings; innermost layer of cells with mostly nodular to spine-like thickenings, the thickenings only sporadically extending across tangential wall to form complete semiannular bands.
Spores finely and closely papillose, the papillae often forming short-vermiculate ridges. Elaters bispiral.
Key to Species
A genus of six species, all south temperate in distribution. One species, Cryptochila grandiflora, extends north in the Andes at high elevations, north into Central America and in southeast Brazil. Grolle (1971a) divided the genus into three subgenera:
1) subg. Nigritula Grolle, with only C. nigrescens of our area;
2) subg. Cryptochila, with C. pseudocclusa of our area and C. grandiflora, a pan-south- temperate species;
3) subg. Acinaria Grolle, which is comprised of two sections, sect. Acinaria, with C. acinacifolia of our area and C. paludosa (Steph.) Grolle of the Falkland Islands, southern South America and Tristan da Cunha, and sect. Spegazzinia Grolle, with C. spegazziniana (Spruce) Grolle of southern South America.
References: Grolle (1971a); Schuster (1970b, 2002a).
