Lepyrodontopsis
Lepyrodontopsis is a monospecific genus of disputed taxonomy. It has been variously placed in Meteoriaceae and Brachytheciaceae, which are regarded as sister families.
The only accepted species within Lepyrodontopsis is L. trichophylla. One invalid species was described and placed within Lepyrodontopsis, but the description gives no type specimen and lacks a Latin diagnosis.
Morphology
Lepyrodontopsis trichophylla is a pleurocarp of moderate size with a complanate habit. Its leaves have linear cells characteristic of Hypnales and lack cellular ornamentation. It lacks a costa and has serrate to serrulate margins. The major diagnostic characteristic of Lepyrodontopsis is longitudinal furrows, particularly obvious when the leaves are dry.
Distribution
Lepyrodontopsis is limited to the Neotropics. It has been recorded in the Tropical Andes, the Dominican Republic, the elfin woodland of Jamaica and Puerto Rico, Montserrat, and other West Indian islands.
Disputed taxonomy
At the time that it was described in 1924, Lepyrodontopsis was placed within Brachytheciaceae. In Pleurocarpous Mosses of the West Indies, W. R. Buck placed it in Meteoriaceae, despite in 1981 proposing a new family—Lepyrodontopsidaceae—because Lepyrodontopsis is phylogenetically isolated due to its strange morphology. It is abnormal among the ecostate hypnoids due to its deeply plicate leaves. Nor does it fit within the costate hypnoids, as it lacks that characteristic structure. Phylogenetically, Buck placed it near Meteoriaceae, and in 1986, he placed Lepyrodontopsidaceae in the proposed super-family of Meteoriacanae. Following Buck's lead, Guide to the Bryophytes of Tropical America likewise places Lepyrodontopsis in Meteoriaceae, though it remarks on the need for further phylogenetic research to understand its placement within the order.