Does the family Meesiaceae (Musci) occur in Africa?

Meesia kenyae P. Varde, a species originally described in 1955 from the alt imontane elevation on Mt. Kenya in tropical East Africa, is briefly assesse d taxonomically and some details of the type material are illustrated. This species is considered to be conspecific with Ceratodon purpureus (Hedw.) B rid., a weedy, cosmopolitan and highly protean species. Because M. kenyae i s the only representative of the Meesiaceae in Africa, this taxonomic concl usion results in the exclusion of this small family from the bryoflora of t his continent. Accordingly, the Meesiaceae are represented in the tropics o nly by three species, namely Meesia triquetra (Jolycl.) Angstrom ngstr. in Papua New Guinea, M. longiseta Hedw. in Colombia and M. ulei Mull. Hal. in Brazil. (C) 2001 Adac / Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.