I. Lethocolea subgen. Lethocolea

Lethocolea sect. Lethocolea

Description.

Stems ventral surface green or dark purplish-reddish pigmented; stolons present or absent. Leaf cells with smooth or densely papillose cuticle; oil bodies one per cell (Fig. 3 E, F), ellipsoid, ca 10–25 µm long, greyish-brown, rarely colourless ( L. naruto-toganensis), finely papillose, sometimes with 1–3 pupils or “ eye spots ” (= larger and lighter-coloured granules). Antheridia one per bract. Marsupia usually long and slender, narrowly cylindrical, (3 –) 8–15 mm long, when mature with swollen tip (Fig. 6 B), wall 5–6 cells thick, marsupial canal lined by numerous elongate, papilliform cells that nearly fill the canal. Capsules splitting to the base into 4 valves. Asexual reproduction by disciform gemmae produced near the shoot apex on the dorsal surface of the stem or on the base of dorsal leaf margins ( L. naruto-toganensis), gemmae 4–20 cells across, 0.1–0.5 mm in diameter, biconvex, becoming thinner to the margin and sometimes with a 1–2 cell wide unistratose, transparent wing.

Distribution.

Three species in Australasia, Java, India, Japan, and South Africa.