On the identities of some neglected species of Grimmiaceae from Îles Kerguelen

Taxonomic status of five species of Grimmia Hedw. (G. minuta Müll.Hal., G. suborthotrichacea Müll.Hal., G. defoliata Müll.Hal., G. genuflexa Müll.Hal., and G. orthotrichacea Müll.Hal.) is appraised. All these species correctly belong within the genus Bucklandiella Roiv. They are actually inseparable from one another and represent a single species for which B. orthotrichacea (Müll.Hal.) Bednarek-Ochyra & Ochyra is chosen as the final name. The remaining four names are considered its synonyms, all but G. genuflexa being new. All the names are lectotypified and some details of the leaves of G. minuta and G. defoliata are illustrated.     

Three new synonyms of Macromitrium microstomum (Hook. & Grev.) Schwägr. (Bryophyta,Orthotrichaceae), with comments on its morphological variations

Macromitrium filicaule Müll.Hal., M. pacificum var. brevisetum Thér. and M. subnitidum Müll.Hal are placed in synonymy with Macromitrium microstomum (Hook. & Grev.) Schwägr. The morphological variations of M. microstomum branch leaves, perichaetial leaves and capsules are illustrated by digital images.     

The genus Saitobryum (Pottiaceae) revisited

The genus Saitobryum R.H.Zander comprises two species: S. lorentzii (Müll.Hal.) Ochyra distributed in Mexico and the Central Andes and Saitobryum pascoense M.J.Cano & J.A.Jiménez from the Central Andes of Peru, described here as new. The new species is distinguished from S. lorentzii by its upper and middle laminal cells papillose throughout, border of 2–3 rows of thick-walled and smooth cells, lamina usually with bistratose patches, and occasionally bistratose margins. The diagnostic characters of Saitobryum are re-evaluated and a key to the species of this genus is provided. Both species are described and illustrated. New localities for S. lorentzii and a map showing the complete distribution of this genus are given.     

Typification,taxonomy, and worldwide distribution of Braunia secunda (Hook.) Bruch & Schimp. (Hedwigiaceae)

Diagnosis and illustrations are given for Braunia secunda (Hook.) Bruch & Schimp., and a Humboldt and Bonpland specimen (BM) is selected as the lectotype. Also a collection by Arséne (BM) is designated as the lectotype for B. secunda var. crassiretis Thér. This variety is retained as synonym of B. secunda. The species concept of B. secunda is revised and a provisional key is provided to help in the identification of 23 species of Braunia, based on examination of herbarium specimens worldwide. About half of specimens from Mexico actually represent another species, B. andrieuxii Lorentz. All material examined from India, previously identified as B. secunda belongs to B. macropelma (Müll.Hal.) A.Jaeger, whereas collections from Africa are actually B. rupestris (Mitt.) A.Jaeger, B. entodonticarpa Müll.Hal., or B. diaphana (Müll.Hal.) A.Jaeger. These and other species should no longer be considered synonyms of B. secunda. The worldwide distribution of the species is documented for the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Venezuela, and Bolivia.     

Notes on Fissidens VII–IX

Abstract

Note VII: Fissidens ah-pengae and F. aristifer spp. nov. are described and figured. The first is known from La Réunion, the second from Madagascar and La Réunion. Both belong to subgenus Aloma.

Note VIII: Fifteen new synonyms are proposed: Fissidens bryoides Hedw. var. glaucus Brid. is subsumed under F. crassipes Wilson ex Bruch & Schimp., F. comorensis Müll.Hal. under F. crispulus Brid., F. sigmocarpoides P.de la Varde under Fissidens erosulus (Müll.Hal.) Paris, F. atroviridis Besch., and F. luridus Renauld & Cardot under F. flaccidus Mitt., Moenkemeyera rarotongae Dixon and Fissidens jonesii Bizot ex Pócs under F. lagenarius Mitt. var. lagenarius, F. onraedtii Bizot nom. nud. under F. madecassus Schimp. ex Müll.Hal., F. bryum var. terrestris P.de la Varde under F. metzgeria (Müll.Hal.) Broth., F. edamensis M. Fleisch. under F. pallidinervis Mitt., F. brunnthaleri var. filipes Dixon & P.de la Varde under F. ramulosus Mitt., F. desertorum (Müll.Hal.) Paris and F. bambariensis Broth. & P.de la Varde under F. reflexus Hampe, F. usambaricus var. acutifolius P.de la Varde under F. usambaricus Broth. and F. glauculus var. circinicaulis (Cardot) P.de la Varde under F. weirii Mitt. Fissidens gedehensis M. Fleisch. is re-instated as a good species.

Note IX: Fifty-five new country and state records including F. anguste-limbatus Mitt. new to Africa. Fissidens pocsii Bizot & Dury ex Pócs is the first record of an epiphyllous species of this genus. The African distributions of F. flaccidus and F. pallidinervis are amended.     

New synonymy and typification in African Schlotheimia (Bryopsida: Orthotrichaceae)

Abstract

Schlotheimia grevilleana Mitt., Schlotheimia rigescens Broth., Schlotheimia laetevirens Broth., Schlotheimia bequaertii Thér. & Naveau and Schlotheimia brachypodia Thér. & Naveau are placed in synonymy with Schlotheimia ferruginea (Bruch ex Hook. & Grev.) Brid. The typification of Schlotheimia percuspidata Müll.Hal. is discussed and a neotype is proposed.     

Taxonomic notes on Calymperes erosum Müll.Hal. (Calymperaceae), C. palisotii Schwägr. and related West African taxa

The lectotype for Calymperes erosum Müll.Hal. is re-established, and lectotypes are designated for three West African taxa: Calymperes asterigerum Müll.Hal. ex Besch., C. leucomitrium Müll.Hal. and C. proligerum Dusén. Calymperes asterigerum and C. leucomitrium are placed in synonymy with C. erosum, and C. proligerum with C. palisotii Schwägr. A revised key to the seven species of Calymperes occurring in West Africa is provided.     

Two new rheophytic species of Schistidium (Grimmiaceae) from China

Abstract

Two new species of Schistidium Bruch & Schimp., S. riparium H.H.Blom, Shevock, D.G.Long & Ochyra, and S. mucronatum H.H.Blom, Shevock, D.G.Long & Ochyra, are described and illustrated. They occur in rheophytic habitats in China, S. riparium in the southern Hengduan Mountains in Yunnan Province (Lancang Jiang and Nu Jiang catchments) and S. mucronatum from further north, on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau of Sichuan and Qinghai Provinces (Jinsha Jiang and Huang He catchments). The affinities of the new species are discussed and on the basis of their concave and broadly canaliculate leaves with plane and erect margins, S. riparium is tentatively placed in Schistidium Bruch & Schimp. subgen. Canalicularia Ochyra, whereas S. mucronatum on account of its keeled, ovate-lanceolate leaves and the strongly curved and twisted peristome teeth resembles very much species of sect. Apocarpiformia (Kindb.) Ochyra within subgen. Apocarpa Vilh.     

A contribution to the knowledge of epiphyllous bryophytes of Bioko Island (Equatorial Guinea), including additional remarks on non-epiphyllous species

Abstract

A collection of epiphyllous bryophytes from Bioko Island was investigated. It contained 57 epiphyllous bryophytes, comprising 55 hepatics and two mosses. Three taxa, Cololejeunea eustacei Pócs, Colura calderae Pócs and Lejeunea halei Robinson subsp. africana Pócs, are new to science. Cololejeunea papilliloba Steph. is new to Africa, five species of hepatics are new to West Africa, and an additional 31 species of hepatics are newly reported from Bioko Island. The second part of the paper deals with records of non-epiphyllous collections. Fourteen species are reported for the first time for Bioko Island. Actinodontium dusenii Broth. is made a synonym of Actinodontium streptopogoneum Broth. The following new combination is proposed: Wijkia rigidicaule (Müll.Hal. ex Broth.) Frank Müll., comb. nov. (Basionym: Acanthocladium rigidicaule Müll.Hal. ex Broth.).     

A new combination in Pseudosymblepharis (Pottiaceae) from South and Central America

Abstract

Trichostomum schlimii Müll.Hal., a neglected Colombian taxon, is transferred to the genus Pseudosymblepharis Broth. as Pseudosymblepharis schlimii (Müll.Hal.) comb. nov. The species, known only from the type locality in Santa Marta, Colombia, is newly reported for the moss floras of Bolivia, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guiana, Peru, and Venezuela. It is described, lectotypified, illustrated, and mapped. Diagnostic characters, and distinction from one closely related American species within the genus are discussed. Trichostomum mollissimum (Broth. ex E.B.Bartram) H.A.Crum and Pseudosymblepharis guatemalensis (E.B.Bartram) B.H.Allen are reduced to the synonymy of Pseudosymblepharis schlimii.     

Additions to the bryoflora of Réunion Island 3: new and interesting records from the Tropical Bryology Group (British Bryological Society)

Abstract

This contribution is a result of collaborative work based on the fieldwork organized during a workshop of the Tropical Bryology Group on Mascarene bryophytes in September 2008, and also from previous unpublished records of the authors. We add 35 new taxon records (17 mosses and 18 liverworts) as well as five other interesting records for Réunion Island (Mascarene Archipelago). Grimmia austrofunalis Müll. Hal., Sphagnum magellanicum Brid. subsp. magellanicum, Didymodon tectorum (Müll. Hal.) K. Saito, Anastrophyllum revolutum Steph. and Lejeunea exilis (Reinw. et al.) Grolle are reported for the first time for Africa. Syrrhopodon vardei L. T. Ellis, Ceratolejeunea papuliflora Steph. and Xylolejeunea grolleana (Pócs) X.-L. He & Grolle, previously known as endemic from Madagascar, are here recorded for Réunion. The latter species is also illustrated with SEM pictures.     

Four new hepatics from Australia

Abstract

A new species, Racomitrium patagonicum Bednarek-Ochyra &; Ochyra, is described from southern South America. A herbarium name, R. senile Schimp. in A. Jaeger, is considered synonymous with R. patagonicum and confusion associated with its interpretation is explained. The new species belongs to the type subgenus of Racomitrium and is closely alied to R. lanuginosum (Hedw.) Brid. from which it differs by the very long and broadly decurrent, ruffled or wavy margins of the hyaline hair-point, broadly canaliculate leaves and dull green, strongly papillose laminal cells. Grimmia glacialis Müll. Hal., hom. illeg. (=Racomitrium glaciale Kindb.) from South Georgia is typified and this name is considered synonymous with Racomitrium lanuginosum subsp. lanuginosum. Distribution of the new species is mapped. A key to species of Racomitrium subg. Racomitrium is provided.     

中国青藓科植物分类学修订(Ⅱ):燕尾藓属

基于燕尾藓属(Bryhnia Kaurin)被处理为狭义青藓属(Brachythecium Schimp.s.str.)的异名,燕尾藓属已不复存在。笔者对原分布于中国的5种燕尾藓属植物进行了相应的分类学修订,结果如下:短尖燕尾藓(B.hultenii E.B.Bartram)、燕尾藓[B.novae-angliae(Sull.Lesq.)Grout]和毛尖燕尾藓(B.trichomitria DixonThér.)被移入狭义青藓属并处理为短尖青藓[Brachythecium hultenii(E.B.Bartram)Min LiY.F.Wang]、燕尾青藓[B.novae-angliae(Sull.Lesq.)A.Jaeger]和东亚青藓[B.trichomitrium(DixonThér.)Huttunen,Ignatov,Min LiY.F.Wang];短枝燕尾藓(B.brachycladula Cardot)被移入鼠尾藓属(Myuroclada Besch.),并处理为羽枝鼠尾藓[M.longiramea(Müll.Hal.)Min Li,Y.F.Wang,IgnatovHuttunen]的异名;密枝燕尾藓[B.serricuspis(Müll Hal.)Y.F.WangR.L.Hu]移入拟异叶藓属(Pseudokindbergia Min Li,Y.F.Wang,IgnatovB.C.Tan),并处理为拟异叶藓[P.dumosa(Mitt.)Min Li,Y.F.Wang,IgnatovB.C.Tan]的异名。     

Phylogenetic relationships between Bryum and supposedly closely related genera

Abstract

The phylogeny of the genus Bryum was studied using cladistic analyses under the maximum parsimony criterion of evolution of anatomical and morphological characters. Three analyses were made with 32 Bryum species plus 20 species from genera supposedly closely related to Bryum, and with Amblyodon dealbatus (Sw. ex Hedw.) Bruch & Schimp., Meesia uliginosa Hedw., and Leptostomum macrocarpum (Hedw.) Bach. Pyl., as outgroups. It is here suggested that under earlier systematic concepts the genus Bryum is paraphyletic. A clade with Bryum billarderi Schwägr., B. capillare Hedw., B. donianum Grev., B. russulum Broth. & Geh., Rhodobryum giganteum (Schwägr.) Paris, and R. keniae (Müll. Hal.) Broth. are circumscribed by spathulate stem leaves that are crowded in the stem apex, suggesting that the rosulate species of Bryum are more closely related to Rhodobryum than to the rest of Bryum. Stem leaf costae without stereids and spores that mature in the winter are synapomorphies for a clade with Anomobryum julaceum (P. Gaertn. et al.) Schimp. and Bryum argenteum (Hedw.). The tropical species B. cellulare Hook. and B. flaccum Wilson ex Mitt. appear in a clade with Plagiobryum zieri (Dicks. ex Hedw.) Lindb. and Synthetodontium pringlei Cardot. In one analysis, B. limbatum Müll. Hal., Epipterygium tozeri (Grev.) Lindb., Leptobryum pyriforme (Hedw.) Wilson, and Roellia roellii (Broth. ex Röll) H.A. Crum came out in a clade with Mniobryum atropurpureum (Wahlenb.) I. Hagen, Mnium hornum Hedw., Pohlia cruda (Hedw.) Lindb., P. longicollis (Hedw.) Lindb., and Pseudopohlia didymodontia (Mitt.) A.L.Andrews. It is here suggested that gametophytic features, such as the orientation and anatomy of the stem leaves and the appearance of vegetative propagules, are important for the internal relationships within the studied ingroup, whereas characters related to the sporophyte, especially those of the peristome, may obscure phylogenetic relationships. Most of the subgenera and the sections of Bryum, as defined by earlier authors, appear to be paraphyletic. However, due to the low stability of most clades it is suggested that analyses including anatomical, morphological, and molecular data are needed.     

Using macroclimatic models to estimate the distribution ranges of taxonomically challenging taxa,an example with Macromitrium cavaleriei Cardot & Thér. (Orthotrichaceae)

An expanded taxonomic study of the narrowly understood Macromitrium cavaleriei Cardot & Thér. identified four new synonyms, M. cancellatum Y.X.Xiong, M. giraldii var. acrophylloides Müll.Hal., M. handelii Broth. and M. rigbyanum Dixon. With the discovery of the new synonyms, the range of M. cavaleriei is extended to India, Nepal, South Korea and Vietnam. To determine the potential distribution range of the species, we described its macroclimatic niche from its extant distribution with the maximum entropy algorithm modelling program (Maxent), contrasting the impact of different geographic backgrounds on the models. We found that the potential range of the species included central, southern, southwestern China to northern Vietnam, Myanmar, Bhutan, Nepal and India, and northwards to Japan and the Korean Peninsula. This estimation of the potential distribution range is largely confirmed by the herbarium specimens. The predicted climate suitability for M. cavaleriei is higher in the areas where the annual temperature range is about 26°C and precipitation during the warmest quarter, wettest quarter and month, and driest month are 500–600 mm, 500 mm, 200–210 mm, and 50 mm, respectively.     

Distribution maps of Bryophytes in Britain and Ireland

Abstract

Eight epithets of Rigodium (R. araucarieti C. Müll., R. argentinicum C. Müll., R. brachypodium (C. Müll.) Par., R. nano-fasciculatum C. Müll. ex Thér., R. pendulum Herz. &; Thér., R. pseudo-thuidium Dus., R. solutum (Tayl.) Par., and R. tamarix C. Müll), lectotypified here, are listed with their nomenclature and pertinent details involving the careful identification of type specimens and original material. For Rigodium solutum (Tayl.) Par., a specimen from Taylor's original herbarium may likely be the holotype but had not been indicated as such by Taylor, the original author. A conservative approach for this situation is taken here by designating this specimen as a lectotype.     

Phylogenetic position of the genus Bryhnia Kaurin (Brachytheciaceae,Bryophyta) inferred from chloroplast (rpl16, trnG,trnL–F) and nuclear (ITS) sequence data

Abstract

The systematic position of the genus Bryhnia Kaurin has been problematic and remains unsettled. A phylogenetic analysis of Bryhnia and closely related genera, based on the nuclear marker ITS1–5·8S–ITS2 and the plastid markers rpl16, trnG, and trnL–F, was carried out to clarify their relationships and systematic positions. The phylogenetic trees generated from Maximum parsimony and Bayesian analyses show that Bryhnia s.s., represented by B. novae-angliae (Sull. & Lesq.) Grout, B. hultenii E.B.Bartram, and B. scabrida (Lindb.) Kaurin, forms a maximally supported clade nested within Brachythecium Schimp. ‘Bryhnia scabrida’ sensu is Bryhnia brachycladula Cardot, and together they form a monophyletic group with Eurhynchiadelphus eustegia (Besch.) Ignatov & Huttunen and Myuroclada maximowiczii (G.G.Borshch.) Steere & W.B.Schofield. We propose the inclusion of the species currently recognized in Bryhnia in Brachythecium, with the transfer of Bryhnia brachycladula to the genus Myuroclada Besch. Bryhnia brachycladula is further treated as a synonym of the new combination, Myuroclada longiramea (Müll.Hal.) M.Li, Y.F.Wang, M.S.Ignatov & S.Huttunen.     

Observations on Hookeriales,I. The taxonomic status of African species of Sauloma (Hook. f. & Wils.) Mitt. (Hookeriales)

African members of the moss genus Sauloma (Hook. f. & Wils.) Mitt are evaluated. Sauloma tisserantii P. Varde from Oubangui, Sauloma humblotii (Ren. & Card.) Card. (= Lepidopilum humblotii Ren. & Card.) from the Comoros and S. africana Dix. & Thér. from Central Africa are all conspecific with Leucomium strumosum (Hornsch.) Mitt. (Hookeriales, Leucomiaceae), the first two names being synonymized with the latter for the first time. S. julacea C. Müll. in Par. nom. nud. correctly belongs within Meiothecium (Sematophyllaceae) and S. chloroclada C. Müll. in Broth. nom. nud. is Meiothecium chlorocladum (Broth.) Broth. Accordingly, the genus Sauloma has to be excluded from the bryoflora of mainland Africa and adjacent islands.     

A revised synonymy for Syrrhopodon trachyphyllus (Calymperaceae,Musci) and some related old world taxa

Several taxa erroneously regarded as conspecific with Syrrhopodon trachyphyllus Mont. are reinstated. These include Syrrhopodon cavifolius Sande Lac., S. planifolius P. de la Varde, S. semperi Müll. Hal., S. tosaensis Cardot and Calymperopsis katemensis Zanten (=Syrrhopodon katemensis (Zanten) L.T. Ellis, comb. nov.). Syrrhopodon ludovicae Broth. & Paris is recognized as a synonym of S. mammillosus Müll. Hal., Syrrhopodon orientalis W. D. Reese & P. J. Lin as conspecific with S. cavifolius Sande Lac., Syrrhopodon cambodiensis Tixier as synonymous with S. semperi, S. calymperoides Cardot & P. de la Varde as conspecific with Syrrhopodon prolifer Schwägr., and S. prolifer var. mossmanensis W. D. Reese is placed in synonymy with S. katemensis (Zanten) L.T. Ellis. Varieties of Syrrhopodon prolifer Schwägr. occurring in the palaeotropics are discussed.