Oleolophozia perssonii (H.Buch & S.W.Arnell) L.Söderstr., De Roo & Hedd.

Erata, Hüseyin, Özen, Öznur, Batan, Nevzat & Alataş, Mevlüt, 2021, Pohlia Hedw and Oleolophozia L. Söderstr., De Roo & Hedd. species new to Turkey and South-West Asia, Cryptogamie, Bryologie 20 (1), pp. 1-10 : 2-3

Oleolophozia perssonii (H.Buch & S.W.Arnell) L.Söderstr., De Roo & Hedd.

( Fig. 2)

SPECIMEN EXAMINED. — Turkey (Giresun province). Dereli district, Kümbet plateau, Başoba, 40°31’48”N, 38°29’01”E, 2000-2050 m, 10.VII.2019, leg. H. Erata, M. Alataş and N. Batan, KTUB[KTUB 1606].

ECOLOGY. — Oleophozia perssonii grows on chalk, limestone or basic soil in open habitats (Smith, 1990). In addition, it is found in green patches or mixed with other bryophytes on other calcareous substrates ( Frey et al. 2006). Turkish specimens collected in Kümbet plateau, in alpine meadow vegetation, near a stream, on chalk and basic moist soil in open habitats, together with Brachythecium rivulare Schimp. , Calliergonella cuspidata (Hedw.) Loeske , Rhizomnium punctatum (Bruch & Schimp.) T.J.Kop. , Climacium dendroides (Hedw.) F. Weber & D. Mohr. and Pellia epiphylla (L.) Corda.

DISTRIBUTION. — Europe ( Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Britain, Ireland, Andorra, France, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Estonia, North Russia); America ( Canada, Greenland and Alaska); Asia (Georgia, Siberia) ( Smith 1996; Paton 1999; Frey et al. 2006; Bakalin & Tigishvili 2013; Dulin 2013; Hodgetts 2015; Söderström et al. 2015, 2016; Hodgetts et al. 2019).

DESCRIPTION

Plants

Small, up to 5 mm long, pale green to bright yellow-green, sometimes brownish. Stems, simple or branched, green to reddish-brown.

Leaves

Yellowish-green or green, 1-1.2 mm long and 0.7-1 mm wide, bifid and asymmetrical.

Cells

20-32 ×30-70 µm, thin walled, trigones absent or small, oil bodies 4-10 per cell.

Underleaves

Lacking.

Shoots

With apical clusters of yellowish red gemmae, 1-2 celled with one cell larger than the other, one or both cells with 1-2 large and often several smaller oil bodies.

REMARKS

Since Lophozia perssonii H.Buch & S.W.Arnell is shown to be very different from other taxa belonging to the Lophozia genus, it was transferred to a new monotypic genus, Oleolophozia L.Söderstr., De Roo & Hedd. based on molecular evidence and persistent oil bodies in gemmae ( Söderström et al. 2010).

The species resembles Lophoziopsis excisa , but differs in the gemmae, some cells of which contain one or two large persistent oil bodies. Similar oil globules occasionally develop in Isopaches bicrenata gemmae when the plants are dried. Besides, O. perssonii resembles Mesoptychia badensis and M. turbinata , but it differs from them by the presence of gemmae and the apex of the leaf lobes not being round ( Smith 1996; Nieuwkoop & Bisang 1993; Paton 1999; Frey et al. 2006; Söderström et al. 2010).

Oleophozia perssonii is classified as least concern in the IUCN Red List of European bryophytes (Hodgetts et al. 2019).