Volume 68 (2019): Edizione 1-2 (July 2019)

A new bryophyte checklist for Afghanistan is presented, including all published records since the beginning of collection activities in 1839–1840 by W. Griffith till present. Considering several unidentified collections in various herbaria, 23 new records for Afghanistan together with the collection data can be added to the flora. Beside a new genus, Asterella, the new records include Amblystegium serpens var. serpens, Brachythecium erythrorrhizon, Bryum dichotomum, B. elwendicum, B. pallens, B. weigelii, Dichodontium palustre, Didymodon luridus, D. tectorum, Distichium inclinatum, Entosthodon muhlenbergii, Hygroamblystegium fluviatile subsp. fluviatile, Oncophorus virens, Orthotrichum rupestre var. sturmii, Pogonatum urnigerum, Pseudocrossidium revolutum, Pterygoneurum ovatum, Schistidium rivulare, Syntrichia handelii, Tortella inflexa, T. tortuosa, and Tortula muralis subsp. obtusifolia. Therewith the number of species increase to 24 liverworts, 246 mosses and one hornwort. In addition, a historical overview of the country’s exploration and a full biogeography of Afghan bryophytes is given.

The poorly known Indian species Fissidens arunii is neotypified, described, figured and compared with other limbate, unipapillose species. Fissidens elimbatus is subsumed under F. crispulus, F. plumula under F. firmus and F. touwii under F. sedgwickii. Taxonomic changes: neotypification Fissidens arunii, F. crispulus Brid. (= F. elimbatus Broth. and = F. walkeri var. elimbatus (Broth.) Dixon), F. firmus (= F. plumula Mitt.). and F. sedgwickii Broth. & Dixon (= Fissidens touwii Tad. Suzuki & Z. Iwats.).

We describe the new liverwort species Lejeunea ryszardii from montane rainforest in the Central Cordillera of Colombia (Dept. Quindío) and Rectolejeunea halinae from submontane rainforest in the Western Cordillera (Dept. Risaralda). Both species stand out by copious vegetative reproduction via caducous leaves. Lejeunea ryszardii resembles the Caribbean L. paucidentata in the leaf lobes with toothed margins and a narrow base but strikingly differs from the latter species in: 1) leaf margins with mamillose cells, which are sometimes crowned by a small papilla, and with scattered rhizoids with or without a tooth-like base; 2) lobules with narrowly elongate, curved, sharp tooth; 3) stem epidermis brownish and somewhat thick-walled; 4) copious production of caducous leaf lobes. Moreover, L. ryszardii is dark green to brown in color and probably dioicous while L. paucidentata is light green and autoicous. Rectolejeunea halinae resembles the neotropical R. flagelliformis in having ciliate caducous leaves but clearly differs from the latter in the pointed leaf tips, the presence of ocelli in underleaves, and the flagelliform shoots with flat, entire-margined underleaves. The discovery of these new species adds two further endemic taxa to the rich bryophyte flora of the Colombian Andes.

During an intensive ecological and biodiversity research project in the eastern Andes of central Peru large number of bryophytes were collected including many species new to Peru and a few even to science. The present paper describes two new species of Lejeuneaceae, Colura ochyrana and Drepanolejeunea halinae, which seem to be endemic to the Andes.

Terrestrial mosses dominate the ground in many vegetation types and most are long-lived perennials with highly complex canopies. Long-term population health continues through numerous wetting and drying cycles; however, extreme drought or extended wet periods may create conditions that cause some parts of the population to die or remain inactive. I examined apparent photosynthesis of fully hydrated populations of four terrestrial species of mosses occurring in leaf-free mesohabitats in temperate deciduous forests of eastern North America in order to explore photosynthetic variability of both popula-tions and species. There was high variability in rates of apparent photosynthesis among the popula-tions of mosses for all four species examined in this study. Despite this variability within species, all four species achieved similar mean rates of photosynthesis. Two years after relocation to nearly bare ground habitats, populations of three of the four species achieved similar apparent photosynthetic rates as natural popula-tions, and functioned in a similar manner.

Based on previous literature and our own collections, we list 285 bryophyte species (142 liverworts, 143 mosses) from the Taita Hills region (including Mt. Kasigau and Maktau Hill) in SE Kenya. New records for Kenya include the liverworts Archilejeunea elobulata Steph., Bazzania nitida (F. Weber) Grolle, Cololejeunea grossepapillosa (Horik.) N. Kitag., Diplasiolejeunea kraussiana (Lindenb.) Steph., D. villaumei Steph., Lejeunea amaniensis E.W. Jones, L. cyathearum E.W. Jones, Lopholejeunea laciniata E.W. Jones, Metzgeria crassipilis (Lindb.) A. Evans, M. nudifrons Steph., Plagiochila boryana (F. Weber) Nees, and P. moenkemeyeri Steph., and the mosses Leucophanes hildebrandtii Müll. Hal. and Neckeromnion lepineanum (Mont.) S. Olsson, Enroth, Huttunen & D. Quandt. A further 22 liverworts and 13 mosses previously known from other parts of Kenya are reported for the first time from the Taita Hills region.

Some early observations seemed to show that, in the Mniaceae, the doubling of the chromo-some set affects a change from dioicous to monoicous condition, larger size of the gametophyte including larger leaf cell size, and to a wider range of the monoicous counterpart. The Mniaceae taxa are divided into four groups based on their sexual condition and morphology. 1. Dioicous – monoicous counterparts which can be distinguished by morphological characters, 2. Dioicous – monoicous taxa which have no morphological, deviating characters, 3. Monoicous species mostly with diploid chromosome number for which no dioicous counterpart is known, and 4. The taxa in Mniaceae with only dioicous plants. Most of the monoicous species of the Mniaceae have wide ranges, but a few of them are endemics in geographically isolated areas. The dioicous species have either a wide holarctic range or a limited range in the forested areas of temperate and meridional North America, Europe and SE Asia, or in subtropical Asia. Some of the monoicous species are evidently autodiploids and a few of them are allopolyploids from cross-sections of two species. Quite recently, several new possible dioicous – monoicous relationships have been discovered.

In the Baltic area, the long-lived dioicous wetland moss Drepanocladus turgescens (T.Jensen) Broth. produces sporophytes rarely and at irregular intervals. Based on surveys of sporophyte occurrences at 13 sites in two regions in northern Gotland (Sweden) during three to five years, we ask: (1) Is sporophyte formation associated with precipitation and a precipitation index that considers the dry periods during July-August of the preceding year, when gametangia are formed and fertilization occurs? (2) Does the estimated spore output suffice for the species’ long-term persistence of the (Northern) European population species? In one of the study regions, where D. turgescens occurs in depressions, sporophyte formation was associated with the two precipitation parameters. In the other study region, with relatively higher precipitation and exposed occurrences on a slightly sloping bedrock with very little accumulated soil, no such association existed. We suggest that this lack of weather effects results from that the exposed rock habitat requires longer continuously wet periods than the depression habitat to allow for gametangia initiation and development, and fertilisation. Average spore production for six spore capsules, from three Gotland localities was 181,000. Based on the sporophyte counts during the survey years, we estimated the total reproductive output as 411.5 million spores in 2013, and 42.5 million in 2015, in the two respective study regions. Taken together with data on haplotype patterns and considering observations on recent colonisations, we argue that such a relatively low and episodic regional spore production is sufficient to maintain global populations of long-lived species, even if these occur in specialized and geographically restricted habitats.

The paraleucobryoid Campylopus complex consists of a small group of Andean species distinguished by a leaf cross section identical to that of Paraleucobryum. The complex differs from Paraleucobryum only in having cygneous rather than erect setae and capsule stomata absent rather than present. Here we treat four species, only two of which have previously been recognized in Campylopus. They are C. albidovirens Herzog, C. pittieri R.S.Williams, C. densifolius (Thér.) B.H.Allen & W.R.Buck, comb. nov. and C. ochyriorum B.H.Allen & W.R.Buck, sp. nov. A key is given to the four species; the two nomenclatural novelties are described in detail and illustrated.

Fifty mosses are reported new for the island of Kauaʻi. Sixteen species represent the first collection for the State of Hawaiʻi and are indicated by an asterisk (*). The moss flora of Kauaʻi is comprised of 170 taxa.

The moss family Hylocomiaceae is studied for the generic level taxonomy within a molecular phylogenetic approach. We confirm segregating of the species formerly known as Rhytidiadelphus triquetrus to Hylocomiadelphus Ochyra & Stebel from the genus Rhytidiadelphus. Hylocomiadelphus forms a clade with Loeskeobryum and Meteoriella, sharing with both genera cordate to auriculate leaf bases and non-squarrose leaves, and with the former undulate leaves and reticulate exostome teeth ornamentation. However, Loeskeobryum differs from Hylocomiadelphus in having paraphyllia, while Meteoriella has a straight capsule and reduced peristome, likely caused by its epiphytic ecology. In the group of species closely related to R. squarrosus, in addition to R. subpinnatus, the third species with North Pacific distribution is described as R. pacificum. Macrothamnium is found deeply nested in Rhytidiadelphus, although no nomenclatural implications are suggested at the moment due to insufficient sampling. Hylocomium splendens var. splendens and var. obtusifolium were found intermingled in the phylogenetic tree, indicating no correlation between morphology and variation in ITS region, thus supporting a view that these taxa are merely environmentally induced morphs.

A new moss species, Didymodon ochyrarum J.A. Jiménez & M.J. Cano, is described and illustrated from the tropical Andean highlands of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. The species is distinguished morphologically by its lanceolate to long-lanceolate leaves that are strongly appressed when dry, leaf base widely ovate, acute apices, plane leaf margins and distally bistratose, excurrent costa, epapillose laminal cells, and marginal basal cells running up the margin forming a distinctly differentiated area of transversely thick-walled cells. Drawings and light microscope photographs of the new species are provided, and possible confusion with other closely related taxa is discussed.

Five liverwort species (Cheilolejeunea krakakammae, Cololejeunea latilobula, Cylindrocolea abyssinica, Telaranea nematodes, Thysananthus humilis) and five moss species (Calyptothecium planifrons, Calymperes tenerum, Fissidens usambaricus, Leptotrichella nitidula, Trichostomum lorifolium) are reported as new for the bryophyte flora of Angola. Fossombronia indica is reported as new for the country of São Tomé and Príncipe, Gulf of Guinea, West Africa. An additional two hepatic species (Lejeunea acuta, Solenostoma dusenii) are reported as new for Príncipe.

Recent collections of the Tropical to Subtropical Australian endemic species Fissidens darwinianus with good fruiting material have enabled an elaboration of the type diagnosis with a complete description of the sporophyte and updated anatomical details. The peristome is of the bryoides-type. Fissidens darwinianus appears closely related morphologically to F. bogoriensis, a species known from China, Japan, the Malay Peninsula and most of the large islands of the Indo-Pacific as far east as New Guinea. The relationships of F. darwinianus to the globally widespread and morphologically diverse F. curvatus are being further investigated.

In the Flora of southern Africa area, comprising the countries of South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland, the moss family Sematophyllaceae consists of three genera (Trichosteleum, Donnellia and Sematophyllum) and nine species. Core sematophyllous taxa with collenchymatous exothecial cells, long rostrate operculum, linear leaf cells and differentiated alar cells are included in the family. Meiothecium fuscescens is transferred to Donnellia and a new combination made. Sematophyllum wageri is reduced to synonymy under S. brachycarpum and a lectotype is designated for S. dregei. Each species is described and its distribution mapped.

Lewinskya anaglyptodon var. ochyrarum Plášek, var. nova, is a confirmed record of a new variety from Chile. The new taxon is described and illustrated by macro photos and micro photos from SEM. It is characterized by having double peristome with conspicuous endostome segments which are unknown in the type variety.