Encalypta rhaptocarpa

Detailed description

Plants dull, red-brown. Stems to c.8 mm, mostly branched. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, rather abruptly narrowed above to an acute apex, with a short or long hair point, mostly spiralled around the stem when dry, not markedly involute, erect-spreading when moist, entire, c.2.0–3.5 × 1 mm, in cross-section U-shaped or weakly-keeled and with margins plane; upper laminal cells short-oblong or subquadrate, bulging, with several (mostly 4–6) c-shaped papillae, mostly 12–21 × 12–15 µm, grading into the cells of the lower lamina; cells of lower lamina elongate-oblong, smooth, with thin longitudinal walls and strongly thickened yellow-orange transverse walls (especially near base of costa); cells of the lower margin lacking thickened transverse walls, forming a border c.5–6 cells wide which fades at the junction with the papillose laminal cells. Costa stout and prominent, red-brown or less commonly yellow-brown, mostly short- to long-excurrent to form a concolourous or apically pale hair-point, lustrous when dry, smooth below, in cross-section with a 1–2 layers of guide cells, 1 layer of papillose upper cells (not differing from adjacent laminal cells), and a large basal stereid band. Perichaetia often overtopped by innovations, the perichaetial leaves scarcely differentiated. Perigonia located immediately below perichaetia. Setae 3–5 mm, red-brown or orange, smooth, straight, not twisted; capsules exserted, erect, narrowly cylindric, with a weakly defined neck, smooth, weakly striate or furrowed, ± constricted at mouth, with a small and poorly defined neck, longitudinally furrowed when dry, gold-brown, red at mouth, 2.5-3.2 mm; annulus lacking; operculum narrowly long-rostrate from a conic base, straight, c.1.5 mm, often falling with the calyptra. Calyptra narrowly long-mitrate, completely enclosing the capsule, not lobed at base, weakly scabrose near tip, c.5 mm.