Belongs within: Jungermanniales.
Contains: Cololejeunea, Lopholejeunea, Lejeunea, Microlejeunea.
The Lejeuneaceae are a large family of liverworts, many species of which are epiphytic. They are characterised by the possession of leaves divided into unequal-sized lobes, with the upper margin of each leaf overlapping the lower margin of the one above it on a stem. In members of the subfamily Lejeuneoideae, mature plants are closely appressed to their substrate and amphigastria are bifid (Bhattacharyya 2005).
Characters (Smith 1991): Plants minute to medium-sized, yellowish to green, occasionally brown-tinged. Branching usually of Lejeunea type. Rhizoids restricted to underleaf bases. Leaves unequally bilobed, margins entire, ventral lobe folded under dorsal and much smaller, joined to both stem and dorsal lobe with the latter forming a conspicuous keel region, ventral lobe inflated, terminating in single apical cell with a hyaline papilla at base. Underleaves usually present, much smaller than lateral leaves. Vegetative propagation frequently by caducous leaves, microphyllous small branches or discoid gemmae. Female bracts 2, archegonia one per inflorescence, long-necked. Perianth with three to five keels, abruptly narrowed at apex to conspicuous beak. Seta cells in tiers so that seta appears articulated. Capsules spherical, wall 2-stratose. Spores 15-65 μm long, germinating before release.
<==Lejeuneaceae
|--CololejeuneoideaeL03
| |--CololejeuneaSS07
| `--ColuraL03
| |--C. acroloba (Mont.) Ast 1953L03
| |--C. acutifolia Ast 1953L03
| |--C. ari Steph. 1916L03
| |--C. calyptrifolia (Hooker) Dum. 1835L03
| |--C. saccophylla Hodg. & Herzog in Herzog 1949H49
| `--C. tenuicornis (Evans) Steph. 1916 [=Colurolejeunea tenuicornis Evans 1900]DS07
|--PtychanthoideaeSS05
| |--LopholejeuneaSS05
| |--Acanthocoleus gilvus (Steph.) Krujit 1988L03
| |--Caudalejeunea reniloba (Gott.) Steph. 1912L03
| |--Ptychanthus striatusG06
| `--ArchilejeuneaB05
| |--A. apiculifoliaDS07
| |--A. marianaG06
| |--A. minutilobula Udar & Awasthi 1981SG07
| `--A. planiuscula (Mitt.) Steph. 1911B05
`--LejeuneoideaeB05
|--LejeuneaSS07
|--MicrolejeuneaL03
|--Rhaphidolejeunea foliicola (Horik.) Chen 1955L03
|--Taxilejeunea tenerrima Steph. 1923L03
|--RectolejeuneaL03
| |--R. aloba (Sande Lac.) Steph. 1914L03
| |--R. ocellata Herzog 1949H49
| `--R. subolivaceaeG06
|--CheilolejeuneaL03
| |--C. giraldianaG06
| |--C. inflexaJ87
| |--C. intertexta (Lindenb.) Steph. 1897L03
| |--C. laevisculaG06
| `--C. subopacaG06
|--DrepanolejeuneaL03
| |--D. angustifoliaG06
| |--D. anoplanthaJ87
| |--D. erectaG06
| |--D. orthophyllaJ87
| `--D. ternatensis (Gott.) Steph. 1889L03
`--LeptolejeuneaL03
|--L. balansae Steph. 1896L03
|--L. epiphylla (Mitt.) Steph. 1914L03
|--L. foliicola Steph. 1896L03
|--L. himalayensisG06
|--L. schiffneri (Schiffn.) Steph. 1896L03
|--L. sikkimensisG06
|--L. subacuta Evans 1906L03
`--L. subfuscaG06
Lejeuneaceae incertae sedis:
Aphanolejeunea subdiaphanaMMV01
HarpalejeuneaE03
| i. s.: H. ancistrodesH04
| H. subfenestrata (Massal.) Schiffn. & Gottsche 1890 [=Lejeunea subfenestrata Massal. 1885]E03
|--+--H. strictaLC20
| `--H. uncinataLC20
`--+--+--H. grandisLC20
| `--H. grandistipulaLC20
`--+--H. marginalisLC20
`--H. molleriLC20
Bryopteris fruticulosaJ87
Ceratolejeunea brevinervisJ87
Hygrolejeunea reflexistipulaJ87
Macrolejeunea sessilifloraJ87
Marchesinia brachiataJ87
Neurolejeunea breuteliiJ87
Odontolejeunea sieberianaJ87
DicranolejeuneaG06
|--D. gilvaG06
`--D. sikkimensisG06
MarchensiniaG06
|--M. giganteaG06
`--M. sikkimensisG06
Spruceanthus semirepandusG06
Trocholejeunea infuscataG06
Tuzibeanthus chinensisG06
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[B05] Bhattacharyya, P. K. 2005. Bryophyte flora of Barddhaman district, West Bengal. Bulletin of the Botanical Survey of India 47: 11–42.
[DS07] Das, S., & D. K. Singh. 2007. Two interesting records of liverworts from Mehao Wildlife Sanctuary, Arunachal Pradesh, India. Bulletin of the Botanical Survey of India 49: 211–214.
[E03] Evans, A. W. 1903. Hepaticae collected in southern Patagonia. In: Scott, W. B. (ed.) Reports of the Princeton University Expeditions to Patagonia, 1896–1899 vol. 8. Botany pp. 35–62. The University: Princeton (New Jersey).
[G06] Ghosh, J. P. 2006. A preliminary check-list of hepatics of West Bengal. Bulletin of the Botanical Survey of India 48: 73–102.
[H04] Haeckel, E. 1899–1904. Kunstformen der Natur. Bibliographisches Institut: Leipzig und Wien.
[H49] Herzog, T. 1949. Descriptions of new species of New Zealand hepatics III. Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand 77 (2): 253–256.
[J87] Judd, W. S. 1987. Floristic study of Morne La Visite and Pic Macaya National Parks, Haiti. Bulletin of the Florida State Museum—Biological Sciences 32 (1): 1–136.
[L03] Lal, J. 2003. Studies in epiphyllous liverworts of India—its present position. Bulletin of the Botanical Survey of India 45 (1-4): 179–186.
[LC20] Lee, G. E., F. L. Condamine, J. Bechteler, O. A. Pérez-Escobar, A. Scheben, A. Schäfer-Verwimp, T. Pócs & J. Heinrichs. 2020. An ancient tropical origin, dispersals via land bridges and Miocene diversification explain the subcosmopolitan disjunctions of the liverwort genus Lejeunea. Scientific Reports 10: 14123.
[MMV01] Machado, G., & D. Moreira Vital. 2001. On the occurrence of epizoic cyanobacteria and liverworts on a neotropical harvestman (Arachnida: Opiliones). Biotropica 33 (3): 535–538.
[SG07] Singh, S. K., & J. P. Ghosh. 2007. Bryo-diversity in Indian Botanic Garden, Howrah, West Bengal. Bulletin of the Botanical Survey of India 49: 155–164.
[SS05] Singh, S. K., & D. K. Singh. 2005. Lopholejeunea sikkimensis var. tenuicostata (Hepaticae: Lejeuneaceae)—a new variety from Great Himalayan National Park, Himachal Pradesh, India. Bulletin of the Botanical Survey of India 47: 189–192.
[SS07] Singh, S. K., & D. K. Singh. 2007. A preliminary census of Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of Doon Valley. Bulletin of the Botanical Survey of India 49: 1–14.
Smith, A. J. E. 1991. The Liverworts of Britain and Ireland. Cambridge University Press.