Status: Native
Synonyms:
None
Brachymenium mexicanum seems to grow with leaves densely clustered at the top, and then grows new stems out from the middle of the old ones with leaves again clustered near the top giving the whole plant a rather unusual appearance rather like jointed arms. The leaves themselves are not particularly noteworthy-- they have no limbidium, although they do have an awn and percurrent costa. There are no rhizoidal tubers, and no sporophytes have been found. John Brinda found this specimen in Juniper-Oak woodland growing on igneous rock in the Florida Mountains.
Many thanks to John Atwood and John Brinda for loaning us this specimen from the Missouri Botanical Garden.
Please click on an image for a larger file.
Brachymenium mexicanum, collection and ID by John Brinda, Luna County, Florida Mountains, near summit of Peak 7104, April 12, 2019; photograph Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, October 7, 2022
Brachymenium mexicanum, closeup of stems, collection and ID by John Brinda, Luna County, Florida Mountains, near summit of Peak 7104, April 12, 2019; photograph Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, October 7, 2022
Brachymenium mexicanum, closeup of habit, collection and ID by John Brinda, Luna County, Florida Mountains, near summit of Peak 7104, April 12, 2019; photograph Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, October 7, 2022
Brachymenium mexicanum, photomicrograph of stem, collection and ID by John Brinda, Luna County, Florida Mountains, near summit of Peak 7104, April 12, 2019; photograph Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, October 7, 2022
Brachymenium mexicanum, photomicrograph of leaves, collection and ID by John Brinda, Luna County, Florida Mountains, near summit of Peak 7104, April 12, 2019; photograph Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, October 7, 2022
Brachymenium mexicanum, photomicrograph of leaf, collection and ID by John Brinda, Luna County, Florida Mountains, near summit of Peak 7104, April 12, 2019; photograph Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, October 7, 2022
Brachymenium mexicanum, photomicrograph of leaf, collection and ID by John Brinda, Luna County, Florida Mountains, near summit of Peak 7104, April 12, 2019; photograph Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, October 7, 2022
Brachymenium mexicanum, photomicrograph of leaf, collection and ID by John Brinda, Luna County, Florida Mountains, near summit of Peak 7104, April 12, 2019; photograph Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, October 7, 2022
Brachymenium mexicanum, photomicrograph of laminal cells and margin, collection and ID by John Brinda, Luna County, Florida Mountains, near summit of Peak 7104, April 12, 2019; photograph Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, October 7, 2022
Brachymenium mexicanum, photomicrograph of laminal cells, collection and ID by John Brinda, Luna County, Florida Mountains, near summit of Peak 7104, April 12, 2019; photograph Russ Kleinman & Karen Blisard, October 7, 2022
Back to the Index