Encalyptaceae Schimp., Coroll. Bryol. Eur. 1855[1856].
大帽藓科
Plants small to moderately large, sometimes robust. Stems erect, often forked in loose or dense tufts. Leaves dense, elliptic to oblong-ovate, round-obtuse, with apiculate apex or hair-pointed; margins mostly plane, crenulate above; costa strong, single, ending below the apex; upper leaf cells rounded to nearly quadrate, thick-walled, densely papillose or mammillose, obscure; basal cells oblong, pale and lax, smooth; basal marginal cells differentiated, linear and pale in several rows. Autoicous, rarely dioicous. Setae elongate, erect, often twisted above when dry; capsules exserted, erect, symmetric, cylindric, smooth or furrowed; annuli mostly present; opercula erect with long beaks; peristome single or double, sometimes lacking, lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, entire or irregularly divided, papillose. Calyptrae large, conic-cylindric, completely covering the capsules, long-rostrate, lobed at the base. Spores spherical, nearly smooth to papillose.
The prominent, often persistent campanulate calyptrae that cover the entire cylindric capsules make the family distinctive. The family consists of two genera, Bryobrittonia Williams and Encalypta Hedw. Only the genus Encalypta is known from China.
