''Diphyscium'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of
moss
Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...
es in the family Diphysciaceae. Members of this genus are small, perennial plants. The capsule does not elongate much, and remains buried among surrounding leaves.
There are fifteen species of ''Diphyscium''. However, two of these species formerly were placed in the
southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
n genus ''Theriotia'', and one species, from
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
, formerly was segregated in the monotypic genus ''Muscoflorschuetzia''.
In 2003, Magombo proposed reclassifying all fifteen species as belonging to the single genus ''Diphyscium''.
References
Moss genera
Bryopsida
{{Bryophyte-stub