Rhynchostegium | |
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Rhynchostegium murale | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Division: | Bryophyta |
Class: | Bryopsida |
Subclass: | Bryidae |
Order: | Hypnales |
Family: | Brachytheciaceae |
Genus: | Rhynchostegium Bruch & Schimp. 1852 [1] |
Rhynchostegium is a genus of pleurocarpous mosses belonging to the family Brachytheciaceae. [2] The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution across different climatological regions except the polar regions, mostly in tropic to north temperate regions. [2] [1] The genus contains both aquatic and terrestrial species. [1] [3] The genus was named for their rostrate opercula. [1] The type species of this genus is Rhynchostegium confertum (Dicks.) Schimp. [1]
The genus name comes from the Greek rhyncho- (beaked) and stegos (a lid), which refers to the rostrate operculum of the sporophyte. [1]
The genus was first described by Bruch and Wilhelm Philippe Schimper in 1852. [2] [1]
Terrestrial species of Rhynchostegium live in moist to wet or shaded habitats, on rock, soil, tree base, tree stem, and logs. [1] [4] [5]
Aquatic species live by or in running water, including streams, springs, rivers, beds of waterfalls, and seepy cliffs. [3] [6]
Rhynchostegium are small to large mosses that form either loose tuft or extensive mats on the substrate, with irregular or regular branching. [1] [3] The younger plants are generally deep green or light green; aging plants could become whitish, brownish, or paler green. [1] [3] Stems are creeping and lack hyaloderm, with acute to acuminate pseudoparaphyllia. [3] Stem leaves are erectopatent or erect. [1] [3] Branch leaves are similar in morphology to stem leaves but smaller and sometimes narrower. [3] Leaves are commonly straightly to homomallously arranged; subimbricate, subcomplanate, or complanate arrangement are sometimes seen, especially in branch leaves. [1] Leaf base, decurrent or not, varies from ovate to ovate-cordate, occasionally lanceolate, and the narrowing from gradual to abrupt, towards a short- or long-acuminate apex, where sometimes a differentiated long acumen or apiculus is present. [1] The leaves have a single costa that generally smoothly ends 35-75% up the leaf, and more often in branch leaves in an abaxial spine. [1] Leaf surfaces vary from flat to slightly concave and not to strongly longitudinally plicate, with little to some pores and linear laminal cells. [1] [3] Leaf margins are serrate to serrulate. [1] [3] Axillary hairs constitute of 3-7 cells, [3] with 1-3 upper cells. [1] Alar cells are slightly enlarged, and either undifferentiated or quadrate to elongate-rectangular. [1] [3]
Rhynchostegium are autoicous. [3] Covered by a naked calyptra is a rostrate to long-rostrate operculum attached to a red-brown to brown, oblong-cylindric, weakly curved capsule, which is inclined or horizontal to a red-brown, smooth seta that has abruptly contracted perichaetial leaves at the base, with acumen straight to reflexed. [1] [3] An annulus separates the operculum. [3] The peristome is xerochastic and perfect, which the red to orange-red exostomes have reduced trabeculae and cross-striolae at the base of the teeth; in rare cases the exostomes are narrow and yellow. [1] [3] The broadly or narrowly perforated endostomes and developed to vestigial cilia are supported by a low or high basal membrane. [1] Spore diameters range between 9-16 μm. [3]
Allelopathy has been studied on Rhynchostegium pallidifolium, which usually form pure colonies in their natural habitat. [7] [8] Methanol extract of R.pallidifolium represses the seedling of cress, alfalfa, lettuce, ryegrass, timothy,and Digitaria sanguinalis in a concentration-dependent manner. [7] A combination of ESI-MS and 1H NMR analyses identified the inhibitory chemical as 3-hydroxy-β-ionone. [7] Further study showed a minimal 3-hydroxy-β-ionone concentration of 1 μM for the inhibition of cress hypocotyl growth, and 3 μM for cress root growth, while the endogenous concentration. [8] The presence of 3-hydroxy-β-ionone in their natural substrate and the growing medium suggested secretion to the environment, which may imply an important role of 3-hydroxy-β-ionone in competition with other plants and the forming of pure colonies. [8]
Acetone extract of Rhynchostegium riparioides showed antibiotic activity on some Gram-negative bacteria, including Escherichia coli , Proteus mirabilis , Entero-bacter cloacae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa . [9]
Ethanolic extract of Rhynchostegium vagans showed similar effect on some Gram-negative bacteria and fungi, with performance superior to chloramphenicol and fluconazole. [10]
Rhynchostegium riparioides is used in monitoring of heavy metals concentration in freshwater in multiple regions around the world, [11] [12] [13] such as copper, [14] [15] zinc. [16] R. riparioides as a neutrophilous species has been used in monitoring water acidification. [17]
The World Flora Online lists 221 species of Rhynchostegium. [18]