PERISTOME DEVELOPMENT IN MOSSES IN RELATION TO SYSTEMATICS AND EVOLUTION .2. TETRAPHIS-PELLUCIDA (TETRAPHIDACEAE)

The Tetraphidae is a small subclass of mosses with a nematodontous peristome that has frequently been interpreted as primitive among the true mosses. The developmental cell sequence leading to the formation of the four peristome teeth of Tetraphis pellucida is described for the first time. Comparisons are made with sequences known for other nematodontous and arthrodontous mosses. Peristome development in T. pellucida is more like that described previously for arthrodontous peristomes than to published developmental sequences for nematodontous peristomes of species in the Polytrichaceae. On the other hand, our observations confirm a basic uniformity of the earliest developmental stages in all mosses studied thus far, regardless of their systematic position.