Chiloscyphus longifissus Steph.

Thouvenot, Louis, 2023, A taxonomic revision of the Lophocoleaceae Vanden Berghen (Marchantiophyta) of New Caledonia, Cryptogamie, Bryologie 20 (1), pp. 1-60 : 50-52

Chiloscyphus longifissus Steph.

( Fig. 30 )

Species Hepaticarum 6: 310 ( Stephani 1922).

—

Type: New Caledonia. Franc s.n. (lecto-, here designated, G[env. de Tao, 100m, I.1910, Franc s.n., hb. Thériot 225, G00069456]!; isolecto-, PC[PC0101940]!).

Chiloscyphus longifissus Steph. ex Paris, Revue bryologique 37: 129 ( Paris 1910), nom. inval. (no description).

—

Reference specimen: New Caledonia. “In jugo Dogny (1050 m)”, VII.1909, L. Le Rat s.n. (REN[herb. E. G. Paris]!; duplicate, PC[PC0103808]!) syn. nov.

Chiloscyphus beesleyanus Pearson , Journal of the Linnean Society, Botany 46: 22 ( Pearson 1922).

—

Type: New Caledonia. Ignambi, on rocks by creek, 3000 ft., Compton 1530 (holo-, BM[BM013409500]!) syn. nov.

DISTRIBUTION IN NEW CALEDONIA. — Scattered in North and South Provinces, in wet forest from 100 to 1200 m, rarely collected.

TOTAL RANGE. — Endemic.

FURTHER SPECIMENS EXAMINED. — New Caledonia. North Province, “ inter Panié et Hienghène ”, II.1910, Le Rat s.n. ( REN); South Province, “ in jugo Dogny (1050 m)”, VII.1909, L. Le Rat s.n. ( REN); North Province, Tao, forest, 600-800 m, I.1910, Franc s.n. as “ Lophocolea latistipula ” ( PC [ PC0102424 ]); South Province, Pic des Mousses , Mt. Mou , 1200 m, 28.VIII.1950, Baumann-Bodenheim 5704 ( GOET); South Province, “ Inter Farino et Table Unio ”, VII.1909, Le Rat s.n. as “ Chiloscyphus Le Rati ” Steph. nom. herb. ( REN).

DESCRIPTION

Habit

Plants large, with shoots up to 6.00 mm wide; leaves spreading, subopposite to moderately staggered, dorsally free.

Leaves

Oval-oblong to trapezoid, sizes uneven in successive segments of a same shoot, 1.50-3.00 mm long, 1.00- 1.50 mm wide near the base; leaf apex c. 1/2 the base width, truncate to widely concave, with a single tooth at both angles, teeth short and acute, margins otherwise entire.

Cells

Hexagonal, 40-80 µm with strong trigones bulging to truncate.

Underleaves

Asymmetrically connate to the adjacent leaves, one side narrowly connate, the opposite side connate or narrowly decurrent onto the respective leaf, underleaves widest than long, deeply bifid, 1/2-3/4 the whole length at stem insertion, sinus lunate to acute, lobes triangular acuminate, spreading at right to obtuse angle from each other, discs transversely elongate, lateral margins with 1-2 sharp teeth.

Gametangia

Androecia in sets of up to nine pairs of bracts, terminal or intercalary on main shoots or on long leafy branches; gynoecia not seen.

COMMENTS

Gametangia are lacking in the type specimen at G which seems sterile even though Stephani underlines the presence of androecia (“ androecia parva cauligena …”). The isolectotype in PC, however, contains several male shoots with series of bracts terminal or intercalary.Therefore, the genus Chiloscyphus might be appropriate if the shape of the bracts would not be so different from the leaves, as in the genus Lophocolea , and the subopposite leaves ventrally connate to the underleaves which are conspicuously wider than the stem, reminiscent of Heteroscyphus . The combination of these features is more consistent with Cryptolophocolea , as defined in Söderström et al. (2013a) but the lack of gynoecium and the impossibility of checking the thickness of antheridia stalks prevent allocation to a genus and it is necessary to keep the current name pending the availability of fertile female material.

On the other hand, original specimens collected by Le Rat are kept in the herbarium of E. G. Paris (REN) and can be reference vouchers for Chiloscyphus longifissus Steph. ex Paris. The duplicate seen at PC was previously misidentified as Heteroscyphus grandiflorus so that Chiloscyphus longifissus Steph. ex Paris was said a synonym of the latter in the checklist ( Thouvenot et al. 2011). Both REN specimens and their duplicate at PC were checked again and confirmed to be identical to Chiloscyphus longifissus Steph. During the examination of the samples present in the three herbariums, the author found some more misidentifications.Some specimens of C. longifissus , collected by Franc in Tao in January 1910, likely part of the type material, were labelled Lophocolea latistipula Steph. , and one of them kept in G as a type of the latter (G00112472), with a duplicate in PC (PC0102424) (see comments under Heteroscyphus coalitus ).

The checked type of Chiloscyphus beesleyana is not different from the type of C. longifissus .

Figures

FIG. 30. — Chiloscyphus longifissus Steph.:A, male shoot end with androecium,dorsal view; B, leaf cells; C, D, shoot portions,ventral view;E, underleaf; F, shoot portion, dorsal view. A, D, F, from the isotype (PC0101940); B, C, E, from the lectotype (G00069456). Scale bars: A, D, 1 mm; B, 50 µm; C, E, F, 0.5 mm.