Epipterygium Lindberg, 1862.
Our one species of Epipterygium is very easily recognized in the field but the compaction of the specimens in an herbarium packet may cause some confusion. This plant is common in rather humic montane and coastal sites where it grows in rather strongly shaded niches in soil banks especially along trails, roads and creeks. It has the metallic gloss of a Pohlia but the plants do not grow rigidly erect. Instead the central axis of this acrocarpous plant angles upward from the substratum with a resulting difference between a dorsal and a ventral side. The centrally placed leaves on the dorsal side of the stem are markedly more narrow and shorter than the lateral leaves to either side. Thus, Epipterygium maximises the effective photosynthetic surface by its leaf placement.
see key to Pohlia Etc.
Species included:
Epipterygium tozeri (Greville) Lindberg