Lejeunea controversa Gottsche

Silva, Jainara Pereira, Oliveira-da-Silva, Fúvio Rubens, Ilkiu-Borges, Anna Luiza & Fernandes, Rozijane Santos, 2021, Leafy liverworts of Chapada das Mesas National Park: a floristic survey and checklist of the leafy liverworts of Maranhão state, Brazil, Check List 17 (1), pp. 479-495 : 486-487

** Lejeunea controversa Gottsche

Material examined. BRAZIL • Maranhão, município de Carolina, Parque Nacional Chapada das Mesas, Pedra Caída–Cachoeira Pedra Furada, rupícola; 07°03′S, 047°28′W; alt. 200 m; 7 Feb. 2020; JAS Silva 578; CCAA 2352 . Maranhão, município de Carolina, Parque Nacional Chapada das Mesas, Pedra Caída–Cachoeira Santuário, rupícola; 07°02′S, 047°26′W; alt. 128 m; 7 Feb. 2020; JAS Silva 554; CCAA 2358 .

Identification. Plants dull green. Ventral merophyte of 2 cells wide. Leaves imbricate, ovate-oblong, apex rounded or acute to acuminate, margin entire to slightly crenate; median cells hexagonal, trigones large, cuticle strongly papillose. Lobules ovate, 1/5 lobe length, apical tooth short, straight to falcate. Underleaves distant to contiguous, bifid, ovate, 2‒3 × stem width, base cordate, apex narrowly triangular to acuminate ending of 2‒5 cells in a row, margin entire, plane. Perianth obovate, 5-keeled, keels with teeth, cilia and lacinia.

Lejeunea controversa is mainly characterized by having the underleaves (2‒3 × stem width) with the apex narrowly triangular to acuminate (ending of 2‒5 cells in a row), a strongly papillose cuticle, and a 5-keeled perianth with teeth, cilia, and lacinia.

Description and illustration. Gradstein and Ilkiu- Borges (2009: 97, fig. 60a–c).