Description
Plants pale green, in sparse tufts of 2–4 stems, 5–30 mm tall. Leaves 1.0–1.4 mm long,
0.2–0.3 mm wide, slightly concave at the base; apex slightly twisted; costa to one-third the length of the leaf. Laminal cells 33–48 × 7.5–10 µm; alar cells orange.
Perichaetia in leaf axils; perichaetial leaves sheathing, reaching half the height of the seta. Seta to c. 3 mm long, slightly twisted, orange-brown. Spores 20–30 µm diameter.
Habitat and Distribution
Epiphytic on branches and twigs in wet-sclerophyll forest in Victoria. Also in New Zealand.
Nomenclature And Typification
Meteorium pusillum Hook.f. & Wilson, in J.D.Hooker, Fl. Nov.-Zel. 2: 101 (1854); Tetraphidopsis pusilla (Hook.f. & Wilson) Dixon, J. Bot. 51: 245 (1913).
Type: Wairarapa Valley, North Island, New Zealand, W.Colenso; not found.
Representative Herbarium Specimens
Vic.: Erskine Falls, Lorne, I.G.Stone 10578 (MEL); Grey River, Otway Ranges, I.G.Stone 11466 (MEL); Maits Rest, Otways Ranges, I.G.Stone 9688 (MEL); Tarra Valley, I.G.Stone 10002 (MEL); Old Steel Bridge, track along Thomson River from Walhalla road, Baw Baw National Park, J.Milne & N.Klazenga BB1, BB2, BB3 (MEL).
Notes
No sporogones were present among the Australian collections.
Illustrations
G.A.M.Scott & I.G.Stone, The Mosses of Southern Australia 363, pl. 70 (1976); W.R.Buck, D.H.Vitt & W.M.Malcolm, Key to the Genera of Australian Mosses 18 (2002).
Taxonomy from
- Kingdom: Plantae
- Phylum: Bryophyta
- Class: Bryopsida
- Subclass: Bryidae
- Order: Ptychomniales
- Family: Ptychomniaceae
- Genus: Ptychomnion
- Species: Tetraphidopsis pusilla
Author - Josephine Milne & Niels Klazenga
Editor(s) - Pat M. McCarthy (2012)
Acknowledgements -
Contributors -
Cite this profile as: Josephine Milne & Niels Klazenga (2024) Tetraphidopsis pusilla. In: Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Canberra. https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/boa/profile/Tetraphidopsis%20pusilla [Date Accessed: 08 April 2025]