HAX, NEVA P.* and BERNARD GOFFINET. Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 75 North Eagleville Road, University of Connecticut, Storrs CT, 06269-0343 USA. - Systematic inferences in Bryoxiphium based on morphological and molecular characters.
The Bryoxiphiaceae is a small family of mosses composed of one genus,
Bryoxiphium, accommodating 2 to 5 taxa. The gametophyte of
Bryoxiphium resembles somewhat that of Fissidens, and it
is based on this similarity that the family has traditionally been
placed within the haplolepideous mosses. A peristome, upon whose
features the classification of mosses rests to a large extant, is,
however, lacking. Recent phylogenetic reconstructions of mosses using
nucleotide sequences of the nuclear and chloroplast genome, lead to
Bryoxiphium being placed in a clade with Drummondia and
Scouleria, at the base of either the haplolepideous mosses
(Dicranideae) or diplolepideous opposite mosses (Funariideae.). We
have tested these relationships, as well as affinities to
Eustichia, by sampling all species of Bryoxiphium;
results of these analyses will be represented. Species of
Bryoxiphium are morphologically distinct, and geographically
allopatric. Bryoxiphium norvegicum is the most widely
distributed species, extending from Eastern Greenland and Iceland to
Western North America. B. japonicum, B. mexicanum, and B.
madeirense, are endemic to Eastern Asia, Mexico and the island of
Madeira, respectively. Whether these morphological species compose
monophyletic lineages is not clear. The relationships among these taxa
are examined using nucleotide sequences of the ITS region of the rDNA
and the chloroplast regions trnL-trnF and rps4 gene based on an
extensive sampling of populations.
Key words: Bryoxiphiaceae, Bryoxiphium, ITS, rps4, trnL-trnF