Peristome ornamentation patterns

Is the observed intraspecific variation in peristome ornamentation patterns a result of cryptic speciation, clonal variation or phenotypic variation ... 

Interpretation of the range of ornamental patterns found within the family as currently recognized is also problematic. Are these ancestral states that predate the evolution of reduction Given the complexity of the internal anatomy of the striate and papillose exostomes, it is tempting to consider these as ancestral. The alternative hypothesis that the peristome evolved the reduced state and concurrently or subsequently evolved these different ornamental patterns together with the marked internal differentiation seems contradictory. 

The peristomes of Erythrodontium often have an exostome truncated at or just above the horizontal striations. This was particularly common in E. julaceum (Schwaegr.) Par Erythrodontium barteri (Mitt.) Broth, has a consistent pattern of ornamentation, with the horizontal and vertical ornamentation overlain with papillae, fusions and occlusions and forming a distinctive pattern on the OPL combined with a consistent reticulate ornamentation on the upper exostome PPL (Figure 12.2C and Figure 12.3B). 

Kungu, E. M., Bonner, L. and Longton R. E. (2003) Patterns of peristome reduction and ornamentation in African Entodontaceae. Journal of the Hattori Botanical laboratory, 93 223-246. 

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