Syntrichia sinensis Ochyra 1992

Only recently discovered in the Rocky Mountains, Syntrichia sinensis may have been overlooked elsewhere in the flora area. For example, it is to be expected in the northern part of the Sierra Nevada of California where limestone is exposed.

Stems 4-15 mm. Leaves longitu-dinally folded and spirally twisted around the stem but little crisped when dry, wide-spreading when moist, oblong-lingulate to spatu-late, 2-4.5 × 0.6-1.6 mm; margins revolute in the proximal ¹/2, entire; apices acute; costa excurrent into a smooth to slightly toothed, hyaline awn, brown or reddish, smooth; basal cells abruptly differentiated, narrower toward the margins; distal cells polygonal, or quadrate, 12-20 µm, with 8-10 papillae per cell; marginal cells not differentiated. Specialized asexual reproduction absent. Sexual condition autoicous. Seta red, 15-25 mm. Capsule red, 3-3.8 mm, straight or slightly curved, with a distinct neck; operculum 1.2-1.5 mm, red; peristome 0.8-1.1 mm, red, the basal membrane pale, about ¹/4 the total length. Spores 12-18 µm, papillose.

Plants medium-sized, 2–3 cm high, dark green to reddish brown, in loose tufts. Stems erect, simple or rarely irregularly branched, radiculose at base; central strand usually present. Leaves appressed or contorted when dry, spreading or sometimes reflexed when moist, oblong-ligulate to spathulate, rounded-obtuse to broadly acute at apex, upper lamina broadly channeled or keeled, weakly sheathing at base; margins often recurved, crenulate by projecting papillae; costa rather stout, often reddish brown, excurrent, ending in a rather long, reddish brown awn, smooth; upper leaf cells rounded-hexagonal, each cell densely covered with several C-shaped papillae; basal cells distinctly differentiated, rectangular, thin-walled, hyaline, smooth. Autoicous. Setae elongate, straight, 1.0–1.5 cm long, yellowish brown; capsules erect, cylindrical; peristome teeth linear, twisted, papillose; basal membrane high.

Distribution: China, central and northern Asia, Europe, North America, and northern Africa.

Habitat: on soil, grassland, tree trunks, rotten wood, and on rocks.

Barbula sinensis Müller Hal., Nuovo Giorn. Bot. Ital., n. s. 3: 100. 1896; Tortula sinensis (Müller Hal.) Brotherus

Tortula sinensis (C. Müll.) Broth. in Levier, Nuovo Giorn. Bot. Ital., n. ser. 13: 279. 1906. Syntrichia alpina (Bruch & Schimp.) Jur., Laubm.-Fl. Oesterr.-Ung. 139. 1882, hom. illeg. Tortula alpina (Bruch & Schimp.) Bruch in Breut., Musci Frond. Exsic. 163. 1843, hom. illeg. Barbula alpina Bruch & Schimp., Bryol. Eur. 2: 101. 163 (fasc. 13–15 Monogr. 39. 24). 1842. Syntrichia alpina var. inermis (Milde.) Jur., Laubm.-Fl. Oesterr.-Ung. 140. 1882. Tortula brachypila (C. Müll.) Broth. in Levier, Nuovo Giorn. Bot. Ital., n. ser. 13: 278. 1906. Barbula brachypila C. Müll., Nuovo Giorn. Bot. Ital., n. ser. 5: 181. 1898. Type. China: Shaanxi (Schen-si), In-kia-po, P. J. Giraldi 1804. Tortula erythrotricha (C. Müll.) Broth. in Levier, Nuovo Giorn. Bot. Ital., n. ser. 13: 278. 1906. Barbula erythrotricha C. Müll., Nuovo Giorn. Bot. Ital., n. ser. 5: 181. 1898. Type. China: Shaanxi (Schen-si), In-kio-po, P. J. Giraldi 853. Tortula satoi Sak., Bot. Mag. (Tokyo) 62: 105. 1949. Type. China: Shanxi, Fan-shi Co., Yan-tou, Sato 39 (holotype TNS). Tortula solomensis (Broth.) Zand., Bull. Buffalo Soc. Nat. Sci. 32: 226. 1993. Desmatodon solomensis Broth., Rev. Bryol., n. sér. 2: 2. 1929. Type. China: Gansu (Kansu), Potanin s.n.