A review of the systematic position of the pleurocarpous moss genus Acrocladium Mitten

Abstract

The systematic position of the moss genus Acrocladium Mitten is reviewed and previous family placements are evaluated. A molecular dataset spanning five genomic regions from all three genomes was developed to address the relationships of Acrocladium. The results indicate a sister group relationship with Lepyrodontaceae, rather than with the Lembophyllaceae or Amblystegiaceae, as previously suggested. The strong differences in the morphologies of Lepyrodon and Acrocladium warrant recognition of the latter at family level: Acrocladiaceae R. Tangney, D. Quandt, S. Huttunen and M. Stech, fam. nov.