27. Cheilolejeunea schiavoneana Reiner & Gradstein (2017: 326) .

Type:— COLOMBIA. Risaralda: western side of the Cordillera Occidental, municipio Mistrato, along the trail from Jeguadas to Puerto de Oro, ca. 5°45’N, 76°01’W, on canopy branches in submontane rainforest, 1200 m, 27 July 1992, S. R. Gradstein 8591 (holotype COL!; isotype GOET).— Fig. 17K–Q.

Plants yellowish green to light brown, 1.5–2.4 mm wide. Stems in cross section 150–200 µm in diameter. Ventral merophytes 3–6 cells wide. Leaves imbricate, ovate orbicular, flat, 260–380 × 340–430 µm, margin entire, apex rounded, dorsal and ventral margin curves; inconspicuous trigones; basal cells 18–30 × 20–38 µm, median cells 14– 25 × 25–42 µm, marginal cells 12–18 × 112–20 µm. Lobules ovate, ca. 1/5 of leaf length, free margin involute. Underleaves distant, orbicular to ovate, 320–470 × 350–550 µm, 2–3 × stem width, bifid to 1/2–1/3, with a V-shaped sinus, margin entire, base cuneate to rounded. Androecia and gynoecia not seen. Vegetative reproduction by caducous leaf lobes produced on upright flagelliform shoots with densely imbricate underleaves and with rhizoids on the leaf margins.

Distribution and habitat:—An endemic species of Western cordillera of Colombia, known only from the type collection. This species grows on canopy branches, in lower montane rainforest at 1200 m (Gradstein & ReinerDrehwald 2017), in the Cauca province of the Pacific dominion (Fig. 18).

Notes:—Characterized by the relatively robust plants (1.5–2.4 mm wide) with orbicular leaves, ventral merophyte 3–6 cells wide, underleaves 2–3 × stem width, and vegetative reproduction by caducous leaf lobes produced on upright flagelliform shoots and with rhizoids on their margins. Male and female structures are unknown. Because it grows in tree canopies, the species may have been overlooked.

This species is considered here as Data Deficient-new (DD-n) (Sérgio et al. 2007, UCN 2001), and we recommend increased sampling in tree canopies in the western cordillera of Colombia.