XVI International Botanical Congess

Both families Brachytheciaceae and Meteoriaceae belong to the large group of pleurocarpous mosses. The Meteoriaceae with 28 genera is a tropical and subtropical group of epiphytic mosses. Distribution of the Brachytheciaceae is worldwide and the ecology of species in the family is variable. Most of them are terrestrial. The Brachytheciaceae has 35 genera. Although differences in the morphology of these two families exist, they may be result from different habitats. Recent studies indicate that some morphological characters link these two families together. The aim of this study is to unravel the phylogenetic relationships of these the Brachytheciaceae and Meteoriaceae on the genus level using DNA-sequence data. Results from DNA studies will be compared with morphology and the usefulness of new morphological generic characters will be estimated.