Lorentziella J. K. A. Müller, Linnaea. 42: 229. 1879.
[For Paul Günter Lorentz, 1835--1881, German bryologist]
Leaves imbricate distally, concave, broadly ovate to elliptic, abruptly narrowed to a long awn; costa narrow, extending to the base of the awn. Capsule immersed to slightly emergent, base truncate, operculum not differentiated.
Species 1 or 2 (1 in the flora): disjunctive from southern U.S.A. to southern South America.
Lorentziella is a genus of minute, ephemeral mosses comprising one, or at most two, species. The perennial, subterranean stem or rhizome system gives rise to upright, above-ground plants in the late fall and early winter. Above-ground plants are produced in abundance during mild, wet winters but less commonly when conditions are dry. The broadly concave leaves completely surround the globose, cleistocarpous capsules of the immersed sporophytes. The glaucous, blue-green color of the ephemeral, above-ground plants is reminiscent of Bryum argenteum while the cabbage shape of the plants resembles a small Funaria gametophyte prior to elongation of the seta.
SELECTED REFERENCES
Crum, H. A. and L. E. Anderson. 1981. Mosses of Eastern North America. Vol. 1. New York. Fife, A. J. 1980. The affinities of Costesia and Neosharpiella and notes on the Gigaspermaceae (Musci). Bryologist 83: 466--476. Lawton, E. 1953. Lorentziella, a moss genus new to North America. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 80: 279--288. Reese, W. D. 1984. Manual of the Mosses of the Gulf South. Baton Rouge. Rushing, A. E. and J. A. Snider. 1980. Observations on sporophyte development in Lorentziella imbricata (Mitt.) Broth. J. Hattori Bot. Lab. 47: 35--44. Sharp, A. J., H. A. Crum and P. Eckel. 1994. The Moss Flora of Mexico. Part 1. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 69.
