Status: Native
Synonyms:
Leskea subtilis Hedwig
Amblystegiella subtilis (Hedwig) Loeske
Amblystegium subtile (Hedwig) Schimper
Serpoleskea subtilis (Hedwig) Loeske
Platydictya subtilis, like other species in the genus, is very small and inconspicuous. P. subtilis is the only member of the genus that grows on bark here. The rhizoids are red-brown and grow from the outer base of the leaves or from between the leaves, but not from the leaf axil. There are many quadrate alar cells and the cells are elongate near the apex. Other small pleurocarps that grow on trees with which it can be confused are Pseudoleskeella tectorum (but it has shorter leaf cells that the rhombic ones of P. subtilis), Homomallium mexicanum (larger, and with much longer laminal cells), Lindbergia brachyptera (papillose), and Haplocladium angustifolium (prorate laminal cells, dimorphic leaves and paraphyllia). We found P. subtilis growing at the base of the trunk of a Fraxinus velutina alongside Cherry Creek at middle elevation in the Gila.
Please click on an image for a larger file.
Platydictya subtilis (water mount photomicrograph), photo Russ Kleinman, Karen Blisard & Kelly Allred, Pinos Altos Range, Cherry Creek Canyon, August 8, 2021
Platydictya subtilis, photomicrograph of leaf, photo Russ Kleinman, Karen Blisard & Kelly Allred, Pinos Altos Range, Cherry Creek Canyon, August 8, 2021
Platydictya subtilis, photomicrograph of leaf, photo Russ Kleinman, Karen Blisard & Kelly Allred, Pinos Altos Range, Cherry Creek Canyon, August 8, 2021
Platydictya subtilis, photomicrograph of leaf, photo Russ Kleinman, Karen Blisard & Kelly Allred, Pinos Altos Range, Cherry Creek Canyon, August 8, 2021
Platydictya subtilis, photomicrograph of leaf apex, photo Russ Kleinman, Karen Blisard & Kelly Allred, Pinos Altos Range, Cherry Creek Canyon, August 8, 2021
Platydictya subtilis, photomicrograph of stem with brownish rhizoids arising from leaf bases, photo Russ Kleinman, Karen Blisard & Kelly Allred, Pinos Altos Range, Cherry Creek Canyon, August 8, 2021
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