Status of Family Fissidentaceae in Gujarat

Abstract

Bryophytes are the second largest group of land plants and are also known as the amphibians of the plant kingdom. sixty seven species of
bryophytes have been reported from select locations across the state of Gujrat. The status of family fissidentaceae which is a large moss
family is being presented in this paper. Globally the family consists of 10 genera but only one genus, Fissidens Hedw. has been collected
from Gujarat. Fissidens is characterized by a unique leaf structure and shows the presence of three distinct lamina, the dorsal, the ventral
and the vaginant lamina. A total of 8 species of Fissidens have been reported from the state based on vegetative characters as no
sporophyte stages were collected earlier. Species reported from the neighboring states also showed the absence of sporophytes. The
identification of different species was difficult due to substantial overlap in vegetative characters. Hence a detailed study on the diversity
of members of Fissidentaceae in Gujarat was carried out between November 2013 and February 2015. In present study 8 distinct species
of Fissidens have been collected from different parts of the state. Three species Fissidens splachnobryoides Broth., Fissidens zollingerii
Mont. and Fissidens curvato-involutus Dixon. have been identified while the other five are still to be identified. Fissidens zollingerii
Mont. and Fissidens xiphoides M. Fleisch., which have been reported as distinct species are actually synonyms according to TROPICOS
database. The presence of sexual reproductive structures and sporophytes for several Fissidens species are also being reported for the first
time from the state.