Ignatov M.S.1, Spirina U.N. 1, 2, Maslova E.V.3, Ivanov O.V.4, Ignatova E.A.4 2015. On the leaf development in Oedipodium (Oedipodiales, Bryophyta) // Arctoa. Vol. 24(2): 431-451 [in English].
1 Tsitsin Main Botanical Garden of Russian Academy of Sciences, Botanicheskaya 4, Moscow 127276 Russia; e-mail: misha_ignatov@list.ru
2 Biological Faculty, Tver State University, Zhelyabova 33, Tver 170100 Russia; e-mail: ulayspirina@mail.ru
3 Belgorod State University, Pobedy square, 85, Belgorod, 308015 Russia – Россия 308015, Белгород, пл. Победы, 85, Белгородский государственный университет; e-mail: e_maslova@list.ru
4 P.N. Lebedev’ Institute of Physics of Russ. Acad. Sci., Leninsky 53, Mosсow 119991 Russia – Россия 119991, Москва, Ленинский проспект, 53, ФИАН; e-mail: ivanov@td.lpi.ru
5 Biological Faculty, Moscow State University, Moscow 119991 Russia; e-mail: arctoa@list.ru
keywords: Oedipodium, mosses, leaf development, areolation, Protosphagnales
Abstract. Leaf development in Oedipodium griffithianum was studied based on herbarium and living material, using microscopic observations of plants at different stages of development and series of sections. It turned out that the apical cell may lose its bifacial structure, thus the leaves develop the bilaterally symmetric areolation pattern, similar to that seen in Oedipodium protonemata. Young leaves never have zones of small, actively dividing cells in their basal parts, similar to those seen in leaves of most other mosses. Contrary to the common pattern of leaf forming by means of groups of 4´4, 4´8, 8´8 cells (descending from a single cell), the leaf development in Oedipodium has an opportunistic model of growth, where the cell divisions proceed randomly throughout the lamina, being not obviously correlated one with another in time, nor having a definite direction and position where it is performed. The leaves in Oedipodium are bi- to multistratose at very early stages of growth, not overlapping each other by their corners and only later develop the basal decurrency. The similarity and possible affinity of Oedipodium with the Upper Permian fossil mosses of Angaraland are discussed.
doi: 10.15298/arctoa.24.35