SYRRHOPODON MAURITIANUS (MUSCI, CALYMPERACEAE) - AN ENIGMA

Syrrhopodon mauritianus Angstrom, a rare species of eastern Africa and the Malagasy-Mascarene region, is unique in the Calymperaceae in that its gemmae are composed largely of a series of transverse tiers of fo ur equal cells and its costae are longitudinally lamellose ad- and aba xially. The strongly dimorphic leaves and yellowish leaf bases of S. m auritianus suggest that it is most closely related to the S. circinatu s-hornschuchii-rigidus complex of the American tropics. The occurrence in a single species of two features unique at the family level presen ts an enigma.