Lejeuneaceae

Epiphytic, epiphyllic or rarely lithophytic or terrestrial, monoicous or dioicous. Asexual reproduction by caducous leaves (not in Victoria) or leaf fragments (not in Victoria), caducous short-leaved lateral branches (not in Victoria), or discoid gemmae produced on leaf margins or surfaces. Plants yellowish green to green, rarely brownish, irregularly and infrequently branched to regularly pinnate to tripinnately branched, with two ranks of lateral leaves and usually a third rank of underleaves, rarely underleaves absent, rarely a bipinnate thallus with leaves confined to reproductive branches (not in Victoria). Branches emerging from main stem near and ventral to an unmodified lateral leaf or rarely near a lateral leaf lacking lobule, with or rarely without a collar at base; collar when present usually lobed and leaf-like, rarely unlobed. Lateral leaves incubous, imbricate to distant, when moist horizontally spreading or erect from substrate, rarely convolute when dry, broadly attached to stem or narrowly attached to stem sometimes by only a single cell, with a main lobe, a smaller or occasionally larger abaxial lobule and sometimes a filamentous to linear stylus appendage abaxial to lobule in leaf axil (not in Victoria); main lobe not lobed, entire to dentate (not in Victoria), rounded or acute at apex, sometimes reduced to a flange bounded by an enlarged lobule; lobule directly attached to stem, sometimes reduced to a basal flange or a few cells in leaf axil, when well-formed usually saccate or inflated along basiscopic margin, often flattening toward apical margin, broadly attached to main lobe along basiscopic margin to form a keel, occasionally fused with lobe along all of margin except for a small opening facing stem covered by a lid, dentate with 1–9 teeth along acroscopic margin, with a hyaline papilla either on margin at base of tooth furthest from the stem on side facing stem (proximal marginal), on margin at base of tooth furthest from stem on side facing away from stem (distal marginal), or on internal face of cavity formed by the lobule usually near or on tooth furthest from stem (ental). Underleaves when present, smaller than lateral leaves, unlobed, emarginate or distinctly bilobed, entire or dentate (not in Victoria), one or two per lateral leaf pair; leaf cells mostly hexagonal or pentagonal, often becoming subquadrate near margin, smooth, mammillose or rarely papillose, thin- to thick-walled, often with intermediate thickenings, with or without distinct trigones, with 2–numerous oil bodies, rarely with ocelli cells composed of a single large oil body occupying most of the cell lumen and lack chloroplast near base or scattered throughout lobe (not in Victoria). Rhizoids in fascicles from underleaf bases or an equivalent position on stem when underleaves absent, without internal peg-like thickenings, hyaline or brown. Androecia terminal on main stem or lateral branches, of 2–numerous bracts, each covering 1–2 antheridia. Sporophyte terminal on branch or main stem, surrounded by a calyptra and perianth; perianth usually obovate or pyriform, occasionally cylindric (not in Victoria) or ellipsoid (not in Victoria), 3–5-keeled, with 2 keels (not in Victoria), with several keels, or sometimes not keeled (not in Victoria), usually beaked at apex. Seta short, barely elevating capsule beyond perianth. Capsule globose, bistratose, dehiscing by 4 valves; elaters present, uni- or rarely bispiral (not in Victoria). Spores globose to ellipsoid, bluntly papillose, with rosette markings scattered regularly over the surface, green, shed singly.