Bot. Bull. Acad. Sin. (1996) 37: 89-91

Chiang — Cryphaea new to Taiwan

Cryphaea Mohr (Cryphaeaceae), a genus new to moss flora of Taiwan

Tzen-Yuh Chiang

Institute of Botany, Academia Sinica, Nankang, Taipei, Taiwan 115, Republic of China

(Received October 11, 1995; Accepted December 14, 1995)

Abstract. Cryphaea obovatocarpa Okam., a species of Cryphaeaceae, is here reported as a new generic and species record of the moss flora of Taiwan. The Cryphaeaceae consists of twelve genera. Four genera including Cryphaea are distributed in Taiwan. This genus is distinguished from the related genus Forsstroemia by having immersed capsules, well differentiated endostomes, and exostomes. Cryphaea obovatocarpa, which is distributed in Japan and Taiwan, also resembles Schoenobryum concavifolia (Griff.) Gangulee, a south-Asiatic taxon, in sharing a tree-like habit, immersed capsule, oblong-ovate leaves, and rectangular leaf cells. The differentiation of endostomes in C. obovatocarpa distinguish it from S. concavifolia.

Keywords: Cryphaea obovatocarpa; Immersed capsules; New record; Taxonomy.

Introduction

Cryphaeaceae consists of twelve genera (Brotherus, 1925; Noguchi, 1941). Three of them, Pilotrichopsis (Cardot, 1905), Forsstroemia (Noguchi, 1947), and Sphaerotheciella (Chiang and Kuo, 1989), were previously known in Taiwan. Cryphaea, another member of the Cryphaeaceae, is reported here as the fourth genus of this family in Taiwan. Cryphaea is generally distributed in the subtropical and tropical areas. Most species are restricted to the local regions (cf. Manuel, 1973; Noguchi, 1989; Enroth, 1990). This genus is distinguished from its related genus Forsstroemia Lindb. by having immersed capsules and well-differentiated peristomes (Manuel, 1973). In my survey of bryoflora of Mt. Yushan (Chiang, 1989), the highest mountain of Taiwan, Cryphaea, a new generic record is found.

Taxonomy and Relationship of Cryphaea

Key to Genera of Cryphaeaceae in Taiwan

1. Plants pendulous 2

2. Leaf margin coarsely toothed above, endostomes poorly differentiated Pilotrichopsis

2. Leaf margin crenulate, endostomes differentiated Sphaerotheciella

1. Plants non-pendulous, attaching to substrate with erect secondary stems 3

3. Laminal cells smooth dorsally, peristomes almost smooth Forsstroemia

3. Laminal cells with a papilla at upper end, peristomes papillose Cryphaea

Genus Cryphaea Mohr in Web., Tab. Syn. Musc. 1814.

Cryphaea obovatocarpa Okam., Bot. Mag. Tokyo 25: 135. f. 4. 1911. Figure 1

Illustrations: Iwatsuki & Mizutani (1972: Pl. 20); Noguchi (1976: f. 42: b); Noguchi (1989: f. 277: B).

Plants tree-like, ca. 4 cm tall. Main stems filiform and creeping, secondary stems erect with four to eight branches at upper part, central strands not differentiated; branches ca.1 cm long. Secondary stem-leaves broadly ovate, acuminate at apex, decurrent at basal corners, concave, 2_2.4 × 1_1.3 mm; margins entire; costa single, extending to 2/3 the length of leaf. Median leaf-cells rectangular, 9_18 × 7_11 µm, thick-walled, with one papilla at upper corner; alar cells weakly differentiated from basal cells. Branch leaves similar to the secondary stem leaves.

Autoicous. Capsules aggregated at upper part of secondary stems; inner perichaetial leaves oblong, acuminate at apex, ca. 3.2 mm long, concave, the margins incurred, crenulate above. Capsules immersed, ovoid; annulus present. Operculum conic, obtuse; exostome teeth linear, papillose; endostome segments linear, as long as the exostome, papillose. Spores ca. 40 µm. Perigonal axillary on the secondary stems, paraphyses absent.

Specimen examined. TAIWAN. NANTOU HSIEN: Yushan National Park, in broad-leaved forests, epiphytic on tree trunk, along Shalihsienhsi Stream, ca. 1,500_2,000 m alt., T. Y. Chiang 26801 (HAST).

Notes. The evident characteristics of this genus are the tree-like habit, also found in Forsstroemia, and immersed capsules, which are shared by Pilotrichopsis, Sphaerotheciella and a species of Forsstroemia, F. neckeroides Broth. The well differentiated endostomes and


Botanical Bulletin of Academia Sinica, Vol. 37, 1996

Cryphaea obovatocarpa can be distinguished from the Chinese species by broadly ovate stem-leaves. This species resembles Schoenobryum concavifolia (Griff.) Mitt., another genus of Cryphaeaceae distributed in tropical Asia (Enroth, 1990), in sharing a tree-like habit, immersed capsules, oblong-ovate leaves, and rectangular leaf cells. But the differentiation of endostomes in C. obovatocarpa can distinguish it from S. concavifolia.

Acknowledgments. I thank Drs. Zen. Iwatsuki, S. H. Lin, Benito Tan, and Ching-I Peng for their valuable comments.

Literature Cited

Brotherus, V. F. 1925. Musci in Engler & Prantl, Die Natuerlichen Pflanzenfamilien, Bd. 11, Leipzig.

Cardot, J. 1905. Mousses de I'ile Formose. Beih. Bot. Centralbl. 19: 85_148.

Chiang, T. Y. 1989. The study on the bryophytic life-forms of Mt. Yushan. Master Thesis, Graduate Institute of Botany, National Taiwan University, Taipei.

Chiang, T. Y. and C. M. Kuo. 1989. Notes on bryophytes of Taiwan (1_36). Taiwania 34: 74_156.

Enroth, J. 1990. Bryophyte flora of the Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea, XXXVIII. Cyrtopodaceae and Cryphaeaceae (Musci). Ann. Bot. Fennici 27: 177_188.

Gangulee, H. C. 1976. Mosses of eastern India and adjacent regions. Fasc. 5, Isobryales. XXVII-XXXV, 1135_1462. P.K. Ghosh at Eastend Printers, Calcutta.

Hu, R. L. 1987. Bryophytic Botany. Higher Education Press, Shanghai, 465 pp. (In Chinese).

Iwatsuki, Z. and M. Mizutani. 1972. Colored Illustrations of Bryophytes of Japan, Hoikusha Publishing Co., Osaka, 405 pp. (In Japanese)

Manuel, M. 1973. Studies in Cryphaeaceae I. A revision of the genus Cryphaea in North America north of Mexico. The Bryologist 76: 144_162.

Noguchi, A. 1941. Notes on Japanese Musci (IV). J. Jap. Bot. 17: 212_225.

Noguchi, A. 1947. A review of the Leucodontineae and Neckerineae of Japan, Loochoo and of Formosa. J. Hattori Bot. Lab. 2: 27_49.

Noguchi, A. 1976. Handbook of Japanese Mosses, Tokyo, 306 pp. (In Japanese)

Noguchi, A. 1989. Illustrated Moss Flora of Japan, Part 3. Supplemented by Z. Iwatsuki, Hattori Botanical Laboratory, Nichinan, 742 pp.

Figure 1. Cryphaea obovatocarpa Okam. A_B, Stem-leaves (×33); C_E, Branch-leaves (×33); F, Apical cells (×330); G, Laminal cells (×330); H, Alar cells (×330); I, Perichaetial leaf (×33); J, Capsule (×33); K, Operculum (×33). Drawn from Chiang 26801.

exostomes with papillose surfaces can distinguish Cryphaea from other genera in this family, such as Cyptodontopsis Nog., in which the endostomes are wanting; Pilotrichopsis, in which the exostomes are coarsely papillose and the endostomes are poorly differentiated (Brotherus, 1925); Sphaerotheciella, in which the peristomes are coarsely papillose and the endostomes are shorter than exostomes; and Forsstroemia, in which the exostome teeth are almost smooth.

Only a few taxa of Cryphaea have ever been reported from East Asia. Two species, C. leveillei Ther., and C. sinensis Bartr. (Hu, 1987), were recorded in China, and one species, C. obovatocarpa, in Japan and Taiwan.


Chiang — Cryphaea new to Taiwan