Lophocolea muricata (Lehm.) Nees

Thouvenot, Louis, 2023, A taxonomic revision of the Lophocoleaceae Vanden Berghen (Marchantiophyta) of New Caledonia, Cryptogamie, Bryologie 20 (1), pp. 1-60 : 47-48

Lophocolea muricata (Lehm.) Nees

( Fig. 27 )

Synopsis Hepaticarum: 169 ( Gottsche et al. 1845). — Jungermannia muricata Lehm. , Linnaea 4: 363 ( Lehmann 1829). — Chiloscyphus muricatus (Lehm.) J.J. Engel & R.M.Schust. , Nova Hedwigia 39: 419 ( Engel & Schuster 1984 [1985]).

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Type: South AFrica. In parietibus saxorum in vertice montis Tafelberg, Cape of Good Hope, Ecklon s.n., not seen.

REFERENCE SPECIMEN EXAMINED. — New Caledonia. South Province, Mts. Koghis , SE ridge of Mt. Bouo , on bark in meso-hygrophilous forest, 830 m, 12.XI.1950, Hürlimann 2090 ( Z [007-1972]).

DISTRIBUTION IN NEW CALEDONIA. — South Province. Hitherto only known from a single collection by Hürlimann (1998).

TOTAL RANGE. — Pantropical-South temperate.

DESCRIPTION

Further description and illustrations in Fulford (1976) or Engel (2010 as Chiloscyphus muricatus ).

Autoecious.

Habit

Plants soft, shoots up to 1 mm wide, branches common, stems smooth; leaves alternate or subopposite, usually subhorizontal ± dorsally assurgent in basal portions, imbricate, the base of dorsal margins reaching the midline of the stem but not fused.

Leaves

Ovate-oblong, shortly bifid to 0.15-0.20, the lobes triangular, medium acute; dorsal leaf surface hispid, except near ventral base, armed with 1-3-celled erect, acute echinae, one per cell, half ventral leaf surface armed with scattered 2-4-celled similar echinae; lateral and lobe margins copiously spinose-dentate to ciliate-dentate, the teeth 2-3(4) cells long.

Cells

Leaf cells 14-18 µm wide, 17-20 µm long, walls moderately thickened, trigones small to medium.

Underleaves

1.4-1.6 times the stem width, narrowly connate on one side, mostly cuneate to long rectangular, bifid to 0.74 or more, lobes diverging or subparallel, long linear, margins and lobes ciliate.

Gametangia

Gametangia terminal or intercalary on main shoots or ± long normal leaved branches, androecia in short spikes, bracts much smaller than leaves, strongly ventricose; except the reflexose distal portion, bifid and ornamented as in the leaves; antheridial stalk uniseriate; gynoecia with innermost bracts much larger than leaves, elliptic convex, short bifid, with both surfaces armed as in the leaves, lobes broadly acute, margins copiously spinose-dentate or ciliate-dentate; innermost bracteoles smaller, oblong to narrowly ovate, bifid to ± 0.4-0.5, margins ciliate; perianth long exserted, nearly cylindrical, somewhat dorsally compressed, ±trigonous when young, the surface densely hispid with echinae as in the leaves, perianth mouth 3-lobed, lobes shallowly bifid, the segments acute to subacuminate, lobe margins spinose dentate; calyptra small, included within periant at maturity.

COMMENTS

Lophocolea muricata is easily distinguished from all other New Caledonian species by the acute echinae set on both dorsal and ventral leaf surfaces. Otherwise, it could be confused with Lophocolea caledonica with which it shares size, colour, leaf and underleaf shapes, but the latter has both leaf surfaces smooth, the spinose papillae being restricted to the perianth surface, and leaf cells with conspicuous medium trigones vs trigones lacking or very small in the former. The single reference specimen reported from New Caledonia ( Hürlimann 1998) could be checked thanks to photos and observations from Heike Hofmann (Z+Zt). According to the original diagnosis ( Lehmann 1829) and further descriptions ( Fulford 1976; Engel 2010), the organisation and morphology of the gametangia are characteristic of the genus Lophocolea .

Figures

FIG. 27. — Lophocolea muricata (Lehm.) Nees: A, cells from lobe apex (top) to median portion of leaf; B, leaf margin in dorsal view, with focus on the echinae; C, shoot portion, dorsal view. All drawn from Hürlimann 2090 (Z007-1972) (from photos by H. Hofmann). Scale bars: A, B, 20 µm; C, 100 µm.