Bot. Bull. Acad. Sin. (1996) 37: 147-150

Chiang — Wijkia tanytricha in Taiwan

Wijkia tanytricha (Mont.) Crum (Musci, Sematophyllaceae),

a new record to the 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. Wijkia tanytricha (Mont.) Crum is a new record to the moss flora of Taiwan. The species is distinguished from W. deflexifolium (Ren. & Card.) Crum, the other species of Wijkia in Taiwan, and characterized by having broadly ovate leaves with a long, filiform acumen and enlarged alar cells. Wijkia tanytricha, distributed in southeast Asia, is related to W. carlottae, a Canadian species, in sharing foliose pseudoparaphyllia and leaf shape. No qualitative characteristics can distinguish these two taxa, although the plants, leaves, and leaf cells of Wijkia tanytricha are larger than those of W. carlottae. I suppose that W. carlottae may be conspecific with W. tanytricha.

Keywords: New record; Taiwan; Wijkia; Wijkia tanytricha; Wijkia carlottae.

Introduction

Wijkia Crum, a moss genus of the Sematophyllaceae, is distributed mainly in the Old World (25 species) and the Americas (one species in North America and three species in South America) (Buck, 1986). Wijkia is distinguished from other genera of the Sematophyllaceae and characterized by having unevenly thickened exothecial cells (vs. collenchymatous cells in other genera of Sematophyllaceae) with thick vertical walls and thin transverse ones (Buck, 1986) and differentiated stem- and branch-leaves. Three sections were classified (Buck, 1986): sect. Wijkia based on type W. extenuata (Brid.) Crum; sect. Andoa based on type W. tanytricha (Mont.) Crum; and the African sect. Acanthocladiopsis, based on type W. trichocoleoides (C. Muell.) Crum. Two species were previously known as Acanthocladium sensu Broth. (Natürl. Pflanzenfam. ed. 2, 11: 412. 1925, non Acanthocladium Mitt., Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales 7: 102. 1882; an illegitimate homonym of flowering plant genus replaced by Wijkia, cf. Crum, 1971) from Taiwan, i.e. A. deflexifolium (Mitt.) Ren. & Card. and A. semitortipilum (C. Muell.) Fleisch. (cf. Kuo and Chiang, 1987). Gangulee (1980) excluded Hypnum semitortipilum C. Muell. nom. nud. (the latter species). In my survey of bryoflora of Mt. Yushan (Chiang, 1989), the highest mountain in Taiwan, Wijkia tanytricha (Mont.) Crum, a new record, is found.

Taxonomy of Wijkia in Taiwan

Wijkia is distinguished from its relative, Brotherella, by having unevenly thickened exothecial cells, thin-walled alar cells, and a contracted leaf-base. Two species of Wijkia are distributed in Taiwan.

Wijkia Crum, The Bryologist 74: 172. 1971.

Plants medium to robust; yellow-green, shiny. Stems creeping, irregularly bipinnately branched; pseudoparaphyllia foliose. Stem- and branch-leaves differentiated; stem leaves oblong-lanceolate to lanceolate, apex abruptly tapering; branch leaves lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, gradually acuminate; costa double or absent; cells linear; alar cells inflated, colored. Dioicous. Setae long, smooth; capsules horizontal, cylindrical, asymmetric, exothecial cells unevenly thickened; operculum rostrate; peristomes double, exostome teeth cross-striolate below, papillose above, endostomes with a high basal membrane, segments keeled, cilia 2.

Key to Species of Wijkia Crum in Taiwan

1. Leaf ovate-lanceolate with tips deflexed W. deflexifolia

1. Leaf broadly ovate with straight, abruptly narrowing tips W. tanytricha

1. Wijkia tanytricha (Mont.) Crum, The Bryologist 74: 174. 1971. Figure 1

Illustrations: Gangulee (1980) f. 946; Brotherus (1925) f. 721.

Stem-leaves ovate with an abruptly tapering, long acumen; cells linear, smooth; alar cells enlarged and inflated, 2 to 3 rows; branch-leaves oblong with a long acumen. Pseudoparaphyllia foliose.

Specimen examined. TAIWAN. CHIAYI HSIEN: upper Tung-Pu, in Tsuga forest, on fallen log, 2,500 m alt., 17 Jul 1987, T. Y. Chiang 20370 (MO).

Additional specimen examined. NEW GUINEA. 18 Jun 1968, W. A. Weber & D. McVean 34877 (MO).

Botanical Bulletin of Academia Sinica, Vol. 37, 1996

Figure 1. Wijkia tanytricha (Mont.) Crum. A_B, Stem-leaves (×70); C, Apical cells of stem-leaf (×330); D, Laminal cells of stem-leaf (×330); F, Marginal cells of stem-leaf (×330); G, Basal cells of stem-leaf (×330); H, Alar cells of stem-leaf (×330); I_J, Branch leaves (×70); K_L, Pseudoparaphyllia (×330); M, Perichaetial leaf (×70); N, Archegonia (× 330). Drawn from Chiang 20370.

Chiang — Wijkia tanytricha in Taiwan

lations of the latter species. Nevertheless, more evidence on sexual structure and sporophytes of W. carlottae is needed before a conclusion can be made.

Wijkia tanytricha is also similar to W. surcularis (Mitt.) Crum of sect. Andoa in southeast Asia (Gangulee, 1980: f. 947) in having abruptly tapering leaf-acumens. Nevertheless, the former species owns larger plants, broader leaves with longer and filiform tips and cylindrical capsules (vs. ovate ones) compared to W. surcularis.

2. Wijkia deflexifolia (Ren. & Card.) Crum, The Bryologist 74: 171. 1971.

Illustration: Gangulee (1980): f. 945.

Leaves ovate-lanceolate with deflexed tips, ecostate; cells linear, smooth; alar cells enlarged, in one row.

Specimen examined. TAIWAN. CHIAYI HSIEN: Pai-yuen-shan-chuang, on rock in Abies forest, 3,200 m alt., Jul 1987, T. Y. Chiang s.n. (TAI).

Distribution. Taiwan, India.

Notes. Wijkia deflexifolia, belonging to sect. Wijkia, was recorded in Taiwan by Sasaoka (1928) and Sakurai (1932). This species is characterized and distinguished from W. tanytricha by having deflexed tips and one-rowed alar cells.

Acknowledgments. I am grateful to the curators of MO and TAI for access to the cited specimens. I am indebted to the reviewers, Drs. Zennoske Iwatsuki, S. H. Lin, Ching-I Peng, and Benito Tan, for their valuable comments.

Literature Cited

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

Buck, W. R. 1986. Wijkia (Sematophyllaceae) in the New World. Hikobia 9: 297_303.

Chiang, T. Y. 1989. The Study on the Bryophytic Life-Forms of Mt. Yushan. Master Thesis, Graduate Institute of Botany, National Taiwan University, Taipei.

Crum, H. 1971. Nomenclatural changes in the Musci. The Bryologist 74: 165_174.

Kuo, C. M. and T. Y. Chiang. 1987. Index of Taiwan mosses. Taiwania 32: 119_207.

Gangulee, H. C. 1980. Mosses of Eastern India and Adjacent Regions. Vol. III, Fasc. 8, Hypnabryales. Calcutta.

Sakurai, K. 1932. Beobachtungen ueber Japanische Moosflora (I). Bot. Mag. Tokyo 46: 375_384.

Sasaoka, H. 1928. A list of Taiwan mosses IV. Trans. Nat. Hist. Soc. Formosa 18: 414_423.

Schofield, W. B. 1966. Acanthocladium (Sect. Tanythrix) in North America. The Bryologist 69: 334_338.

Figure 2. Wijkia carlottae (Schof.) Crum. A_B & E_G, Stem-leaves (×70); C_D & H_I, Branch leaves (×70); A_D, Drawn from B. Schofield & F. M. Boas 18733 (isotype); E_I, Drawn from W. B. Schofield 31489.

Habitat. Growing on wet rocks or tree trunks, elev. 1,800_4,000 m.

Distribution. Taiwan, Tibet, Vietnam, Java, India , New Guinea.

Specimens of related species examined:

Wijkia carlottae: CANADA, Queen Charlotte Islands of British Columbia, 23 Jul 1966, W. B. Schofield & F. M. Boas 18733 (isotype, MO), W. B. Schofield 31489 (MO).

Wijkia surcularis: THAILAND, 21 Dec 1985, Touw 10288 (MO).

Notes. Wijkia tanytricha is related to W. carlottae (Schof.) Crum (Figure 2), a species found in Queen Charlotte Islands of British Columbia (Schofield, 1966), in sharing ovate stem-leaves with a long acumen and foliose pseudoparaphyllia (Buck, 1986). Although plants, leaves, leaf cells, and alar cells of Wijkia tanytricha are larger than those of W. carlottae, no other qualitative characteristics can distinguish these two species. I suppose that plants of W. carlottae are conspecific with W. tanytricha (cf. Schofield, 1966) and represent the northernmost popu

Botanical Bulletin of Academia Sinica, Vol. 37, 1996