1999 Volume 86 Pages 137-159
A new classification of Dicranaceae is proposed based on comparison of non-coding chloroplast DNA trnLUAA intron and trnLUAA 3'exon -trnFGAA intergenic spacer sequences of 38 species of Dicranaceae, one species of Aongstroemiaceae, and two species of each Grimmiaceae, Pottiaceae and Orthotrichaceae included for comparison. In a phylogenetic tree constructed according to the maximum parsimony principle, the subfamilies Dicranoideae and Campylopodioideae form monophyletic groups, whereas the Rhabdoweisioideae and Dicranelloideae appear as polyphyletic. The subfamily Paraleucobryoideae is rejected as the genera belong to Dicranoideae (Paraleucobryum) or Campylopodioideae (Brothera, Campylopodiella). The species of Grimmiaceae, Pottiaceae and Orthotrichaceae form well supported clades, but their relationship to the subfamilies of Dicranaceae cannot be resolved. A close relationship of Aongstroemia, Dichodontium and Dicranella palustris is indicated. Campylopodium is transferred from Campylopodioideae to Dicranelloideae, and Dicranoweisia from Dicranoideae to Rhabdoweisioideae.
