Contribution to the bryophyte flora of New Caledonia IV. Species new to the country, new localities together with taxonomic notes
Author
Thouvenot, Louis
Saint Léon, 66000 Perpignan (France) thouvenot. louis @ orange. fr
louis@orange.fr
Author
Müller, Frank
Technische Universität Dresden, Institut für Botanik, 01062 Dresden (Germany)
text
Cryptogamie, Bryologie
2021
2021-09-17
20
13
181
196
http://dx.doi.org/10.5252/cryptogamie-bryologie2021v42a13
journal article
10.5252/cryptogamie-bryologie2021v42a13
1776-0992
7822275
Telaranea parvifolia
(Steph.) J.J.Engel & G.L.Merr.
(
Fig. 1
A-H)
SPECIMENS EXAMINED. —
New Caledonia
.
South Province
, La Foa, Dogny Plateau,
21°37’27”S
,
165°52’27”E
, in a wet forest at the top of a small valley,
950 m
,
24.X.2019
,
Thouvenot NC2617
PC[(PC0712107)]; Parc Provincial de la Rivière Bleue, along the path from the Refuge de la Rivière Bleue to Haute Pourina, rainforest, on rotten wood,
c
.
800 m
,
06.IX.2001
,
Müller NC178
.
DESCRIPTION
based on the specimen
Thouvenot NC2617
(
Fig. 1
A-H)
Habit
Plant growing in very dense mats made of interwoven stems frequently branching, primary stems producing ventral intercalary secondary stems (
Bazzania
-
type
branching); all kinds of stem leafy and in turn densely pinnate, with lateral branches of
Frullania
-
type
often whiplike.
Stem
Somewhat dorsi-ventrally flattened, with a strong differentiation: the single external layer of larger cortical cells, 35-65 µm wide, firm walled, sharply distinct from the numerous medullary cells, thicker walled, smaller, 6-25 µm wide.
Leaves
Fully developed stem leaves 4-lobed, convex, 200-250 µm long, 250 µm wide, incubous, inserted in a straight line, the two homologue leaves widely separated abaxially by two lines of epidermal cells, the leaf discs transversally rectangular, 8 cells wide, 3-4 cells high, short rectangular, moderately thick-walled, the marginal cells smaller, the leaf lobes small, the ventral smallest, erect or somewhat curved, made of one file of 1-3 cells short rectangular, 1- or 2-celled at bases, the terminal cells narrowly rounded at apices; the branch leaves variable, typically imbricate or erecto-patent, oblong to oval, 3-lobed, lobes 1-2 celled.
Underleaves
Fully developed stem underleaves about as wide as the stem, 100-120 µm long, 250 µm wide, the disc 1-2 cells high, with four small lobes, 1-2 cells long; the branch underleaves variable, when fully developed, disc 1-2 cells high, with three 1-celled lobes.
COMMENTS
This endemic
Lepidoziaceae
was only known from the
type
collected by Mrs Louise Le Rat in
July
1909
in the Dogny Massif (PC0102356). The observation of a fresh specimen allows to complete the description by Engel & Smith-Merrill (2004) and to provide illustrations. The species is noteworthy by the width of the stems that occupy not less than half the whole leafy shoots, so that the leaves are inconspicuous at naked eyes, slightly projecting beyond the stem edge.