Untangling Pseudocrossidium crinitum s. l. (Pottiaceae, Bryophyta) through molecular and morphometric analysis

Abstract

Pseudocrossidium crinitum, a dioicous moss distributed mainly in the Southern Hemisphere, has been treated as a single species, in spite of its phenotypical variability. Morphometric methods (PCA; DA) based on quantitative characters and molecular variation using plastid regions trnL-F and trnG of this species, as presently circumscribed, were analyzed. The results suggest that this putative taxon consists of at least five different species, which could belong to different lineages in Pottiaceae. They are Pseudocrossidium crinitum, the neglected P. carinatum, and Barbula santiagensis and two names resurrected from synonymy, Barbula arenicola, and B. flagellaris var. denticulata, which are here combined in Pseudocrossidium.