A taxonomic revision of the Lophocoleaceae Vanden Berghen (Marchantiophyta) of New Caledonia
Author
Thouvenot, Louis
Saint Léon, 66000 Perpignan (France) thouvenot. louis @ orange. fr
louis@orange.fr
text
Cryptogamie, Bryologie
2023
2023-01-16
20
1
1
60
http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4878.3.2
journal article
10.5252/cryptogamie-bryologie2023v44a1
1776-0992
7822577
Heteroscyphus supinopsis
J.J.Engel, Thouvenot & Frank Müll.
(
Fig. 22
)
Nova Hedwigia
113: 62 (
Engel
et al
. 2021
).
—
Type:
New Caledo-nia
.
South Province
,
Mt. Ouin
,
epiphytic in mossy forest
,
c
.
900 m
,
1.IX.2003
,
Müller
NC797
(
holo-
,
DR
;
iso-
, F, hb. Thouvenot).
DISTRIBUTION IN
NEW CALEDONIA
. — Only known from the
type
specimen in
South Province
.
TOTAL RANGE. — Endemic.
DESCRIPTION
Further description and illustrations in
Engel
et al
. (2021)
. Dioecious.
Habit
Plant medium sized, rather rigid,
2.8-3.8 mm
wide when flattened; ventral intercalary branching infrequent; stem narrow for plant size,
0.15-0.20 mm
wide; leaves subopposite, horizontal grading to obliquely dorsally assurgent, weakly to moderately convex in dorsal sector, moderately abaxially concave in ventral sector, loosely imbricate, the dorsal leaf bases connate and forming a laminar lip to
c
. 6 cells wide.
Leaves
1.30-1.80 mm
long,
0.80-1.40 mm
wide, subsymmetrical, mostly lingulate occasionally ovate to trapezoid, widest near the insertion; apex variable: broadly rounded to truncate, often retuse, sporadically short bilobed with lobe apices rounded to broadly acute, otherwise entire; margins straight or nearly so, entire.
Cells
25-35 µm wide, 30-40 µm long, somewhat larger near the base; in median portion of leaves with knot-like trigones that are separated by narrow, thin-walled places.
Underleaves
3.8-6.5 times the stem width, connate with the leaves on both sides, imbricate, stoutly ovate to subreniform,
0.6-0.9 mm
long,
0.6-0.8 mm
wide; apex bifid to (0.2)0.35-0.55, the lobes ± parallel to weakly divergent, acuminate from a broad base, entire or with a tooth toward base of outer margin; lamina 9-12 cells high and
c
. 2-5 times wider than long, the margins on each side with 1-5 dentiform to subciliiiform to occasionnaly laciniiform processes.
Gametangia
Gynoecia seen only in juvenile state, at the end of short leafless branches, lateral-intercalary, bracts ciliate to laciniate; androecia not seen.
COMMENTS
Heteroscyphus supinopsis
resembles
H. supinus
of
New Zealand
and Tasmania and
H. deplanche
i of
New Caledonia
. Like these species it is easily separated from other New Caledonian
Lophocoleaceae
by: 1) leaves usually lingulate with the apices and lateral margins entire; 2) cells with conspicuous trigones; 3) large underleaves wider than long with apices deeply bifid and margins armed with processes laciniate to dentiform.
Heteroscyphus supinopsis
is separated from the former by: 1) leaves distinctly connate dorsally; and 2) underleaves less deeply bifid (to 0.35-0.55 vs 0.8), underleaf discs longer (9-12 cells high at insertion vs 4-7) and less transversally elongate (2-5 times wider than long vs 7). It can be distinguished from the latter by: 1) its smaller size with shoots up to
3.8 mm
when flattened vs
5 mm
; 2) the absence of shoot segments with emarginate to bifid leaves; 3) shorter lateral processes on the underleaf margins, toothed to ciliate vs long laciniate; and 4) less robust stems with
c
. 40 cells in diameter vs up to 100.