Lepidopilum grevilleanum Mitt. (1869)
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonyms: Lepidopilum grevillei Kindb.; Lepidopilum pulcherrimum Steere
Lepidopilum pulcherrimum Steere is a synonym of L. grevilleanum (Churchill, 1988 [dissertation], 1992, 2016; Churchill & Linares Castillo, 1995). This species is considered a synonym of L. affine by (WFO, 2026), but this record derives from Tropicos on 6 December 2024 (Ibid.), and today Tropicos considers the species to be valid (Tropicos, 2026). Although, it was historically considered to be a synonym of L. affine until the work of Dr. Steven Churchill (Churchill, 1988 [dissertation], 1992).
Conservation Status
Globally Rediscovered [by implication] (see below)
IUCN RedList status: Critically Endangered
The species was long known only from two localities in western Ecuador (Churchill, 1988 [dissertation], 1992; Hallingbäck & Hodgetts, 2000). The type specimen was collected on 29 November 1829 by Robert K. Greville (after whom the species is named) either within or near the city of Esmeraldas (Churchill, 1922; Tropicos, 2026). And a second collection by Gunnar Harling more than a century later on 24 March 1947 southwards in Los Ríos province (Tropicos, 2026). It was postulated that it may be extinct due, in part at least, to deforestation by (Hallingbäck & Hodgetts, 2000:80), but Tropicos (2026) includes two collections from Nariño department, Colombia in early December 1993 by Diego Giraldo-Cañas.
Distribution & Habitat
Nariño department, Colombia & western Ecuador
Anatomy & Morphology
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Mitten, W. (1869). Musci Austro-Americani. J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 12: 1-659.
Other references:
Bryophyte Specialist Group. (2000). Lepidopilum grevilleanum. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2000: e.T39161A10166176. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2000.RLTS.T39161A10166176.en. Accessed on 25 September 2023.
Churchill, Steven P. (1988). A revision of the moss genus Lepidopilum (Callicostaceae). Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation. City University of New York. xi + 293 pp.
Churchill, Steven P. (1992). Clarification and review of Lepidopilum affine and L. grevilleanum (Callicostaceae). Brittonia 44: 350-355. https://doi.org/10.2307/2806939
Churchill, Steven P. (2016). Bryophyta (Mosses), pp. 353-441. In: Bernal González, R., Gradstein, S. R. and Celis, M. (eds.). Cat. Pl. Líq. Colombia. Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Sede Bogotá), Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Bogotá.
Churchill, Steven P. and Linares Castillo, E. L. (1995). Prodromus bryologiae Novo-Granatensis: introducción a la flora de musgos de Colombia. Parte 1: Adelotheciaceae a Funariaceae. Bibliot. José Jerónimo Triana 12: 1-453.
Hallingbäck, Tomas and Hodgetts, Nick. (compilers). (2000). Mosses, Liverworts, and Hornworts. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan for Bryophytes. IUCN/SSC Bryophyte Specialist Group. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. x + 106 pp.
Hilton-Taylor, C. (2000). 2000 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.
Mitten, W. (1869). Musci Austro-Americani. J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 12: 1-659.
Tropicos. (2026). Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 15 Aug 2026 <https://tropicos.org/name/35138547>
WFO. (2026). Lepidopilum grevilleanum Spruce. Published on the Internet. Available at: https://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-0001168427 [Accessed on 15 August 2026]