Dichodontium is a genus of mosses in the order Dicranales, class Bryopsida (division Bryophyta). It was first described by the Swiss bryologist Wilhelm Philibert Schimper, who published the genus in 1856 in Corollarium Bryologiae Europaeae. Sources differ on its family placement: Wikipedia places the genus in Dicranaceae, while the GBIF taxonomic backbone places it in the related family Aongstroemiaceae.
The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, with documented occurrences spanning Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, Sweden) and North America (Vermont, US), consistent with its broad, worldwide range. GBIF's backbone recognizes ten accepted species in the genus, among them the two species tracked for this genus in this database, Dichodontium flavescens and Dichodontium pellucidum, along with D. asperimum, D. debile, D. integrum, D. olympicum, and D. zygodon.
As with other members of Dicranales, species in this genus are small, tuft- or cushion-forming acrocarpous mosses typically found on damp soil, rock, or streamside habitats in temperate and montane regions, though detailed genus-level morphological descriptions were not found in the sources consulted for this entry.
Distribution
Dichodontium has a cosmopolitan distribution. Documented occurrences include Denmark, Norway, and Sweden in Scandinavia, and Vermont in the United States.
Taxonomy Notes
The genus was first described by Wilhelm Philibert Schimper, published in 1856 in Corollarium Bryologiae Europaeae. Family placement differs by source: Wikipedia lists Dicranaceae, while the GBIF taxonomic backbone lists Aongstroemiaceae; both agree on order Dicranales, class Bryopsida.
