Dicranella cylindrica Nog., J. Jap. Bot. 22: 27. 1948. Dicranella moutierii Paris & Broth., Rev. Bryol. 27: 76. 1900. Dicranella obscura Sull. & Lesq., Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 4: 277. 1859. Aongstroemia obscura (Sull. & Lesq.) C. Müll., Gen. Musc. Frond. 325. 1900. Dicranella coarctata var. obscura (Sull. & Lesq.) Iwatsuki, J. Hattori Bot. Lab. 29: 55. 1966. Dicranella salsuginosa Okam., Bot. Mag. (Tokyo) 25: 142. 1911.

Plants small, 5–10 mm high, yellowish green to brownish green, in loose tufts. Stems erect, often simple, rarely branched; central strand absent. Lower leaves short, 1.0–1.5 mm long, gradually tapered from an oblong-ovate base to a long setaceous acumen; upper leaves much larger, up to 5.0 mm long, abruptly tapered from an obovate, clasping base to a long, slender, semi-canaliculate acumen; margins plane, entire or irregularly crenulate near the apex; costa thin, percurrent to short-excurrent, smooth at back; upper cells above shoulder, linear-rectangular, 40–80 µm × 5–7 µm, shorter near the margins, somewhat thick-walled; lower cells below the shoulder, rectangular to rhomboidal, 12–20 µm × 5–7 µm. Autoicous. Perichaetial leaves longer than upper stem leaves, up to 6.5 mm long. Setae straight, 10–15 mm long, yellowish or brownish with age; capsules erect, cylindric, 1.1–1.5 mm long, with an indistinct neck, reddish brown, becoming blackish with age; opercula obliquely long-rostrate, nearly as long as the urns; annuli in 3 rows of large cells, deciduous; peristome teeth divided nearly to the middle, reddish below. Spores (15–)18–25 µm in diameter, brownish green, papillose.

Type. Indonesia: Java, Zollinger 411.

Chinese specimens examined: FUJIAN: Sanming City, D.-K. Li 1572 (IFSBH, SHM). GUANGDONG: Bai-yun Shan (Mt.), P.-J. Lin 346 (IFSBH); Ding-hu Shan (Mt.), K.-L. Shi et al. 10362 (MO). HAINAN: Bawangling (Mt.), C. Gao 3298 (IFSBH), C. Gao 3338 (MO); Wuzhi Shan (Mt.), W.-M. Zhu 74001 (YUKU). HONG KONG: Parker Mt., Herklots 300A (BM); Herklots 269, 274, 280 (BM). HUNAN: Chang- sha, Yuelu Shan (Mt.), Handel-Mazzetti 2290 (H). JIANGXI: Jinggang Shan (Mt.), C.-H. Gao 25498 (SHM). TAIWAN: Ilan Co., C.-C. Chuang 6045 (MO); Maruyama Shan (Mt.), Faurie 8, 10, 21 (H); Ping-tung Co., C.-C. Chuang 1156 (MO); Taitum, Faurie 44, 61, 68 (H); Yi-lan Co., Noguchi 6893 (NICH). YUNNAN: He-kou Co., W.-X. Xu 410 (IFSBH, YUKU). ZHEJIANG: Sui-Chang Co., Z.-L. Liu 25 (SHM).

Habitat: on dry sandy soil, roadsides, open fields, or grasslands under shrubs; Distribution: China, Japan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Australia.

Illustrations: Pl. 30, figs. 12–22.