Belongs within: Hypnales.
The Neckeraceae is a family of about two hundred species of moss found predominantly in tropical regions. Most species are epilithic or epiphytic, though some are aquatic. Molecular analyses suggest a relationship between the Neckeraceae and mosses of the family Lembophyllaceae (Olsson et al. 2009). Members of the type genus Neckera have pinnately or bipinnately branched secondary stems and complanate leaves, and are found growing on trunks of trees or rocks (Dixon 1924).
Characters (from Olsson et al. 2009): Usually large, glossy plants with creeping stolons bearing very small leaves and tufts of rhizoids; more or less frondose (rarely dendroid) stems with or without distinct stipes, mostly complanate. Leaf cells almost always smooth, relatively short and firm-walled; marginal cells in at least 1-2 rows with at least some quadrate to rectangular cells shorter than the corresponding inner laminal cells, even when leaf cells are generally elongate.
<==Neckeraceae | i. s.: ‘Glossadelphus’ dimorphus Dixon 1942SK02 |--Symphysodontella cylindraceaBW15 |--Caduciella Enroth 1991SK02 | `--C. mariei (Besch.) Enroth 1991SK02 |--Touwia Ochyra 1986SK02 | `--T. laticostata Ochyra 1986SK02 |--Neckeropsis Reichardt 1868SK02 | |--N. lepineana (Montagne) Fleischer 1908 [=Neckera lepineana]SK02 | |--M. nanodisticha (Geh.) Fleischer 1908 [incl. N. sparvelliae]SK02 | `--N. takahashiB-OO10 |--Pinnatella Fleischer 1906SK02 | |--P. alopecuroides (Mitt.) Fleischer 1906 (see below for synonymy)SK02 | `--P. huehliana (Bosch & Sande Lac.) Fleischer 1906SK02 |--Himantocladium (Mitt.) Fleischer 1908SK02 | |--H. cyclophyllum (Müll.Hal.) Fleischer 1908 [incl. H. loriforme (Bosch & Sande Lac.) Fleischer 1908]SK02 | |--H. implanumB57 | `--H. plumula (Nees) Fleischer 1908SK02 |--Porotrichum (Brid.) Hampe 1863JR-SM-G05, SK02 [Porotrichoideae] | |--P. cobanense (Schwaegr.) Muell. 1879JR-SM-G05 | |--P. fasciculatumJ87 | `--P. insularumJ87 |--Homaliodendron Fleischer 1906SK02 | |--H. decompositum (Brid.) Wagn. 1952JR-SM-G05 | |--H. exiguum (Bosch & Sande Lac.) Fleischer 1908SK02 | |--H. flabellatum (Smith) Fleischer 1906 (see below for synonymy)SK02 | `--H. sphaerocarpumN02 |--Homalia (Brid.) Schimp. in Bruch et al. 1850S04 [=OmaliaOZB-O03] | |--H. auriculata [=Pendulothecium auriculatum]SK02 | |--H. falcifolia Hooker & Wilson 1854 [=Pseudotaxiphyllum falcifolium]SK02 | |--H. punctata (Hooker & Wilson) Wijk & Margad. 1960 (see below for synonymy)SK02 | |--H. trichomanoides (Hedw.) Schimp. in Bruch, Schimp. & Gümbel 1850S04 (see below for synonymy) | `--H. webbiana [=Hookeria webbiana]OZB-O03 `--Neckera Hedw. 1801 (nom. cons.)SK02 | i. s.: N. aurescens Hampe 1856 [incl. N. leptotheca]SK02 | N. browniiA49 | N. cephalonicaFHH01 | N. chilensisD03 | N. douglasiiVH02 | N. intermediaFHH01 | N. leichhardtii Hampe 1870SK02 | N. scabridensD03 | N. urnigera Muell 1850JR-SM-G05 |--N. sect. NeckeraOZB-O03 | |--N. crispa Hedw. 1801OZB-O03, S04 (see below for synonymy) | |--N. pennata Hedw. 1801OZB-O03, SK02 (see below for synonymy) | `--N. pumila Hedw. 1801OZB-O03, S04 (see below for synonymy) `--N. sect. Leiophyllum (Müll.Hal.) Braithw. 1905OZB-O03 |--N. besseri (Lobarzewski) Juratzka 1860 (see below for synonymy)OZB-O03 `--N. complanata (Hedw.) Huebener 1833OZB-O03, S04 (see below for synonymy) Nomina nuda: Homalia baileyana Müll.Hal. ex Bailey 1886SK02 Neckera baileyana Müll.Hal. ex Bailey 1886SK02 Neckera hodgkinsoniae Müll.Hal. ex Bailey 1883SK02 Neckera tasmanica Schimp. 1850 non N. pennata var. tasmanicaSK02 Porotrichum molle Broth. ex Bailey 1891SK02 Porotrichum spininervis Hardy 1906SK02
Homalia punctata (Hooker & Wilson) Wijk & Margad. 1960 [=Pendulothecium punctatum; incl. H. pulchella (nom. illeg.)]SK02
Homalia trichomanoides (Hedw.) Schimp. in Bruch, Schimp. & Gümbel 1850S04 [=Hypnum trichomanoidesD24, Leskea trichomanoidesOZB-O03, Omalia trichomanoidesS04]
Homaliodendron flabellatum (Smith) Fleischer 1906 [=Thamnium flabellatum; incl. Neckera australiae (n. n.), Homaliodendron dendroides]SK02
Neckera besseri (Lobarzewski) Juratzka 1860 [=Omalia besseri Lobarzewski 1862; incl. N. besseri f. depauperata, N. besseri f. rotundifolia]OZB-O03
Neckera complanata (Hedw.) Huebener 1833OZB-O03, S04 [=Homalia complanataOZB-O03, Hypnum complanatumD24, Leskea complanataSK02, Omalia complanataOZB-O03; incl. Neckera complanata var. longifoliaOZB-O03, N. complanata f. secundaOZB-O03, N. complanata var. tenellaS04]
Neckera crispa Hedw. 1801OZB-O03, S04 [=Distichia crispaOZB-O03, Hypnum crispumD24; incl. Neckera crispa f. cavernarumOZB-O03, N. crispa f. compactaOZB-O03, N. crispa f. depauperata non N. besseri f. depauperataOZB-O03, N. crispa f. pendulaOZB-O03, N. crispa f. pseudopennataOZB-O03]
Neckera pennata Hedw. 1801OZB-O03, SK02 [=Distichia pennataOZB-O03, Fontinalis pennataD24; incl. N. hymenodontaSK02, N. pennata var. tasmanicaSK02]
Neckera pumila Hedw. 1801OZB-O03, S04 [incl. N. fontinaloidesOZB-O03, N. fontinaloides var. philippeanaOZB-O03, N. pumila var. philippeanaD24]
Pinnatella alopecuroides (Mitt.) Fleischer 1906 [incl. P. subalopecuroides var. condensata (n. n.), P. intralimbata Fleischer 1906, P. subalopecuroides Broth. & Paris 1909]SK02
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[A49] Allison, K. W. 1949. Description of a new species with notes and localities for some Otago and Southland mosses. Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand 77 (2): 278–283.
[B57] Bartram, E. B. 1957. Additional Fijian mosses, III. Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences 46 (12): 392–396.
[B-OO10] Bednarek-Ochyra, H., & R. Ochyra. 2010. Bucklandiella shevockii (Bryophyta, Grimmiaceae), an exquisite new species from Yunnan, China. Polish Botanical Journal 55 (2): 499–506.
[BW15] Brotherus, V. F., & W. W. Watts. 1915. The mosses of the New Hebrides [part 1]. Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 49 (1): 127–144.
[D24] Dixon, H. N. 1924. The Student’s Handbook of British Mosses 3rd ed. V. V. Sumfield: Eastbourne.
[D03] Dusén, P. 1903. Patagonian and Fuegian mosses. In: Scott, W. B. (ed.) Reports of the Princeton University Expeditions to Patagonia, 1896–1899 vol. 8. Botany pp. 63–126. The University: Princeton (New Jersey).
[FHH01] Frey, W., M. Hofmann & H. H. Hilger. 2001. The gametophyte-sporophyte junction: unequivocal hints for two evolutionary lines of archegoniate land plants. Flora 196: 431–445.
[JR-SM-G05] Johansen, R. M., A. P. Retana-Salazar & A. Mojica-Guzmán. 2005. A review of the New World bryophyte-feeding genus Wegenerithrips Johansen 1983 (Insecta, Thysanoptera, Thripidae). Senckenbergiana Biologica 85 (1): 61–83.
[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.
[N02] Negi, H. R. 2002. Abundance and diversity of moss communities of Chopta-Tunganath in the Garhwal Himalaya. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 99 (3): 418–433.
[OZB-O03] Ochyra, R., J. Żarnowiec & H. Bednarek-Ochyra. 2003. Census Catalogue of Polish Mosses. Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences: Cracow.
Olsson, S., V. Buchbender, J. Enroth, S. Huttunen, L. Hedenäs & D. Quandt. 2009. Evolution of the Neckeraceae (Bryophyta): resolving the backbone phylogeny. Systematics and Biodiversity 7 (4): 419–432.
[S04] Smith, A. J. E. 2004. The Moss Flora of Britain and Ireland 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press.
[SK02] Streimann, H., & N. Klazenga. 2002. Catalogue of Australian Mosses. Flora of Australia Supplementary Series 17. Australian Biological Resources Study: Canberra.
[VH02] Vanderpoorten, A., L. Hedenäs, C. J. Cox & A. J. Shaw. 2002. Phylogeny and morphological evolution of the Amblystegiaceae (Bryopsida). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 23 (1): 1–21.