Thamniopsis utacamundiana (Mont.) W.R.Buck

Brinda, John C., He, Si, Atwood, John J., Magill, Robert E. & Reeb, Catherine, 2021, Notes on the bryophytes of Madagascar 5: new records from old collections, Cryptogamie, Bryologie 20 (15), pp. 205-211 : 210

Thamniopsis utacamundiana (Mont.) W.R.Buck

NOTES

Lepidopilum diversifolium Renauld & Cardot [≡ Thamniopsis diversifolia (Renauld & Cardot) Vaz-Imbassahy & D.P.Costa] is characterized by its more or less asymmetrical, ovate-lanceolate to oblong leaves (1.6-1.8 × 0.7-0.9 mm); acute to shortly acuminate apices; heterogeneous leaf cell areolation; weakly bordered leaf margins that are dentate with swollen, bifid teeth; and double costae that extend approximately ½-⅔rds the leaf length and are often abaxially spinose. This combination of morphological characters, as noted by Vaz-Imbassahy & Costa (2008, 2009), places T. diversifolia “uncomfortably close to some forms of T. [ Thamniopsis ] utacamundiana ”. These authors nevertheless maintain the two species as distinct due to the few overall known specimens of T. diversifolia . As presently treated, T. utacamundiana is a polymorphic species with over 20 synonyms distributed in central, eastern, and southern Africa, throughout northern and southeastern Asia, as well as across Oceania. Among its synonyms are species whose leaf morphology overlaps with that of T. diversifolia , offering no consistently reliable differences to distinguish the species. Lepidopilum thwaitesianum Mitt. from Sri Lanka and Hookeria pappeana Hampe from South Africa, for example, have similarly shaped and sized leaves (1.5-2.0 × 0.7-1.0 mm); acute, broadly acute, or short-acuminate apices; similar leaf cell areolation and dentation on the leaf margins, as well as projecting costae that extend to about the middle of the leaf. The inclusion of these species within the broadly circumscribed T. utacamundiana precludes maintaining T. diversifolia as distinct.