Dicranoloma menziesii Paris 1904

Dicranoloma menziesii

Dicranoloma menziesii (Tayl.), Par., Ind. Bryol, ed. 2, 2:28. 1904.

Dicranum menziesii Tayl., Phytologist 2:412, 1094, 1843. [Original material: Lord Auckland’s Isl., New Zealand, coll. Menzies, 1791.]

Dicranum brachypelma C. Müll., Bot. Zeit. 9:550, 1851. [Original material: New Zealand, coll. Mossman, 1850.]

Dicranum suberectum Hampe, Linnaea 30:629, 1860. [Original material: Tarwin River valley, Australia, coll. F. Müller, 1854–1855.]

Dicranum trichophyllum Hampe, Linnaea 37:515, 1872. [Original material: Chatham Isl., coll. F. Müller.]

Dicranum kroneanum C. Müll, in Hampe & Geh., Rev. Bryol. 8:26, 1881. [Original material: Near Fernshaw, Victoria, Australia, coll. Krone, 1875.]

Dicranum oedithecium C. Müll., Hedwigia 36:357, 1897. [Original material: Fitzroy Falls, New South Wales, Australia, coll. Whitelegge, Nov. 1884.]

Dicranum kaiparense Par., Ind. Bryol. 357, 1895, nom. illeg. incl. sp prior. (D. brachypelma C. Müll.)

Dicranum calymperoideum C. Müll., Hedwigia 36:359, 1897. [Original material: Titiranghi Range near Auckland, New Zealand, coll. Beccari, March 1878.]

Dicranum fulvum R. Brown ter., Trans. New Zealand Inst. 29:462, 1897, hom. illeg. [Original material: New Zealand, West Oxford, coll. R. Brown ter., 1885.]

Dicranum brownii Par., Ind. Bryol., Suppl. 121, 1900, nom. nov.

Dicranoloma kaiparense Par., Ind. Bryol. ed. 2, 2:27, 1904.

Leucoloma capillifolium Broth. in Dus., Ark. Bot. 4(1):35, 1905, hom. illeg. [Original material: In valley of Rio Aysen and on Guaitecas Isl. in western Patagonia; near Puerto Varas and in Coastal Cordillera between Río Tirua and Bajo Imperial in southern Chile, coll. Dusén, 1895–1897.]

Dicranum capillifolium Card., Wiss. Ergebn. Schwed. Südpol. Exp. Nordenskjöld 4(8):70, 1908.

Dicranodontium australe Dix., New Zealand Inst. Bull. 3(3):92, 1923. [Original material: Great Barrier Isl., New Zealand, coll. Hutton & Kirk n. 63 (NY).]

Campylopus fernandezianus Bartr., Ark. Bot. ser. 2, 4:31, 1957. [Original material: Forest above Plazoleta del Yunque, 400–450 m, coll. C. & I. Skottsberg n. 247 (SI).]

Stems with central strand, to 6 cm long. Leaves to 8 mm long, erect to secund, linear-lanceolate from a clasping base, very long, setaceous; tip usually serrate on margin, often very slender and fragile in short area near apex; costa 1/5 or less of leaf width at base, ca. 100–125 μm wide; upper lamina and costa slightly scabrous abaxially; upper leaf cells and sometimes many lower leaf cells short-rectangular to subquadrate, 5–7 μm wide, 7–14 μm long; lower cells with rather thickened, only slightly porose walls, in section lumens of cells rounded or transversely elongate with upper and lower walls evenly thickened. Setae single from perichaetia, 1 cm long or less. Capsule ca. 2 mm long, mouth turned to one side.

MAS A TIERRA: El Yunque, below east face, ca. 1600–1800 m, H. & E. 514, 656; forest above Plazoleta de Yunque, 400–450 m, Sk. M247 (S); Q. Frances, slope of Cordón Chifladores, K. M91 (S); ridge between Rabanal and Q. Piedra, 720 m, Sp. M230 in part (S).

The species occurs in southern South America, Australia, Tasmania, Norfolk Island, Chatham Islands, Auckland Islands, and New Zealand. I have not seen authentic material of D. capillifolium, but all described features agree with the above concept of D. menziesii. A difference noted in some descriptions—erect leaves in D. menziesii and secund leaves in D. capillifolium—does not hold. Also the border of the leaf is variable, sometimes indistinct, sometimes distinct to midleaf.

Dicranoloma menziesii is a species of moss. It grows in moist situations on the coast and tablelands of eastern Australia. As well as Lord Howe Island, the Juan Fernandez Islands and southern areas of South America. It also may be found in moist forests of New Zealand, on trunks of trees or in mats on the forest floor. Leaves are narrow and falcate in shape, with tapering leaves resembling grass.