曲背藓属

Plants small to medium-sized, dull, green to yellowish brown, in dense tufts. Stems erect, simple or branched, somewhat radiculose below, rounded in transverse section. Leaves often strongly crispate when dry, erect-spreading to squarrose when moist, lanceolate from an obovate, erect or clasping base, rather abruptly narrowed to a subulate to linear-subulate apex; margins plane or recurved, entire or serrulate in the upper part, usually bistratose above; costa narrow, subpercurrent to excurrent, with 2 stereid bands; upper cells small, rounded-quadrate to short-rectangular, smooth; basal cells rectangular to linear, firm- to thick-walled; alar cells not differentiated. Autoicous or dioicous. Perichaetial leaves not much differentiated from the stem leaves. Setae solitary, straight, elongate; capsules oblong-ovoid to cylindric, suberect to inclined or horizontal, curved and asymmetric, distinctly strumose at the base, often slightly furrowed, not striate when dry and empty; opercula obliquely long-rostrate; annuli none or poorly developed; stomata present; peristome teeth 16, inserted at the mouth, reddish, lanceolate, divided at least halfway down, sometimes almost to the base. Calyptrae cucullate, smooth. Spores spherical, smooth or finely papillose.

Oncophorus is characterized by having curved and asymmetric capsules with distinct struma at the base and by having crispate leaves that are acuminate from an erect or clasping base. The species of Oncophorus vary substantially depending on different habitats. It is a small genus with most of its species distributed in Asia. Four species are currently known from China.

Lower Taxa

• Oncophorus crispifolius (Mitt.) Lindb.
• Oncophorus gracilentus S.-Y. Zeng
• Oncophorus virens (Hedw.) Brid.
• Oncophorus wahlenbergii Brid.