Abstract
Philonotis falcata (Hook.) Mitt. is exclusively an Asiatic taxon; records from North America and Europe are based on misunderstandings. It was reported from Europe in the 1820's, but later European bryologists excluded it from the European flora. The epithet falcata was connected with Philonotis fontana (Hedw.) Brid. at the varietal level, as P. fontana var. falcata (Mitt.) Brid., and later synonymized with both P. calcarea (Bruch & Schimp.) Schimp. and P. fontana var. fontana. Philonotis falcata differs from them in many characters, such as the shape of the leaves, leaf-cell areolation, distribution of papillae and mamillae on leaf cells, and seriate leaves, and it has been placed in a different subsection. Philonotis falcata is for the first time recorded for Kirgizia, and the former Soviet Union.