Gao Chien and Cao Tong

Plants minute, gregarious or larger, in dense tufts. Stems simple or forked, not tomentose below. Leaves more or less subulate from a narrow base; costa terete above, often filling most of the subula, subpercurrent to excurrent; cells smooth, usually short above, oblong-rhomboidal below, alar cells generally not differentiated. Dioicous or autoicous. Setae usually elongate, erect or somewhat curved; capsules mostly exserted, erect, symmetric, mostly rounded-pyriform, wide-mouthed when dry and empty; opercula rostrate; annuli absent or large, simple or compound; peristome (endostomal segments) usually present, 16, lanceolate, entire, sometimes slightly perforated or split at the tip. Calyptrae mostly cucullate, sometimes mitrate. Spores spherical, small in number.

The Seligeriaceae consist of five or six genera. The family is characterized by its unique peristome structure which appears to be single with 16 teeth, but these are considered to be endostome segments (with a lightly thickened ventral surface and strongly thickened dorsal trabeculae). The exostome is either highly reduced to become a low membrane adhering externally to the margins of the segments or occurs as a prostome at the base of the segments. The presumably double peristomes of the Seligeriaceae is not so unique as compared to all haplolepidous teeth that are homologous to the endostomes of the diplolepidous peristomes, since both endostomes and exostomes are derived from wall pairs between the primary peristomial layer and the primary peristomial layer of a developing capsules (Edwards 1979).

The presence of this family in China was first discovered by C. Gao et al. (1977) who reported Blindia from Jilin and Liaoning provinces in northeastern China. Recently, C. Gao (1994) reported Seligeria and Brachydontium from Sichuan province in southwestern China.

Lower Taxa

• Blindia Bruch & Schimp.
• Brachydontium Bruch ex Fürnr.
• Seligeria Bruch & Schimp.