The genus Neckera Hedw. includes perhaps one to several hundred species, though many more species names have been published (MOBOT 2006). The genus name honors the botanist Noel Martin Joseph de Necker (Crum 1983).

Habitat: Neckera typically grow on conifer trunks in moist woods (Crum 1983), although some species have been reported from rocks (Crum & Anderson 1981).

Distribution: Neckera can be found throughout much of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and North America (Crum 1983).

Gametophyte appearance:Neckera is a pleurocarpous moss that forms creeping mats of simple, pinnate, or bipinnately branched stems; paraphyllia or pseudoparaphyllia may be present and appear foliose; leaves are complanate, asymmetrical, unistratose, oblong-lingulate to oblong-ovate, acute to acuminate (Ireland 1982). The leaves may be entire to serrulate, with a single costa, short double costae, or no costa (Crum & Anderson 1981). Perichaetial leaves have no costa, are sheathing, and may hide the capsules as they are longer than the capsules (Ireland 1982). According to Watson & Dallwitz (2005), leaf bases are not decurrent in plants that grow in the British Isles, while Ireland (1982) reports that leaf bases are shortly decurrent in plants found in the Canadian Maritimes. Leaf cells vary from linear-flexuose at the leaf base to rhomboidal at the apex, with alar cells that may be square or shortly rectangular, and basal cells that may appear yellow (Ireland 1982). The leaf cells are smooth (Crum & Anderson 1981).

Sporophyte appearance: Neckera is autoicous or dioicous (Ireland 1982), with calyptra that are cucullate or mitrate, hairy (Crum 1983) or naked, short, and yellow (Ireland 1982). Capsules are immersed to exserted, ellipsoidal to oblong-cylindric (Crum & Anderson 1981). The setae are short, straight, and tend to be hidden among the perichaetial leaves (Ireland 1982). Annuli are lacking, and the peristome is double, with 16 teeth that are transversely striolate to smooth (Ireland 1982), or papillose (Crum & Anderson 1981). Cilia are absent (Watson & Dallwitz 2005). The spores are spherical (Crum 1983).

Resources:
Anderson, L. E. and H. A. Crum. 1981. Mosses of Eastern North America Vol II. Columbia University Press, New York, NY.
Crum, H. 1983. Mosses of the Great Lakes Forest 3rd ed. University Herbarium, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
Ireland, R. R. 1982. Moss Flora of the Maritime Provinces. National Museum of Canada, Ottawa, ON.
Missouri Botanical Gardens (MOBOT). 2006. Index of Mosses Database (W3MOST). Available at: www.mobot.org/MOBOT/tropicos/most/iom.shtml (Accessed May 19, 2006).
Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2005 onwards. The moss families of the British Isles. Version: 23rd October 2005. http://delta-intkey.com (Accessed May 12, 2006).

Written by Melanie Schori
May 2006