FloraOfNewZealand-Mosses-20-Fife-2015-Orthorrhy ...

The Orthorrhynchiaceae are a monogeneric family that includes one or two species, depending on taxonomic interpretation. In a New Zealand context the sole representative, Orthorrhynchium elegans, is easily recognised by its highly lustrous, strongly distichous, and strongly folded (“conduplicate”) leaves, and its broadly obtuse shoot apex, combined with its epiphytic substrate. It is found from the Kermadec Is south to Stewart I., and east to the Chathams and also occurs outside of N.Z. The conduplicate leaves overlap so strongly that the leaves cohere even after they have been stripped from the stem and cannot be flattened without damage. The plants are almost certainly dioicous and the small, obovoid capsules on short setae are rarely observed.