In the process of undertaking a comprehensive review of the pteridophytes of the Solomon Islands, multiple unidentified specimens of the fern genus
Murdock (Marattiaceae) were collected. ...Morphological and molecular phylogenetic analyses as well as field observations were required to identify the Solomon Islands taxa. Four species and one variety are recognized from the Solomon Islands:
Murdock & C.W. Chen,
,
Murdock & C.W. Chen,
, Ptisana decipiens var. delicata Murdock & C.W. Chen,
,
(Alderw.) Murdock & C.W. Chen,
, and
(Mett. ex Kuhn) Murdock. The complexities in the identification of Solomon Islands collections show the limits of morphology in the genus and illuminate a path forward for untangling the
taxonomy on a broader scale.
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Riccia (Ricciaceae) is a widespread, cosmopolitan genus of thalloid liverworts. Here we document the presence of R. cavernosa Hoffm. in New Zealand for the first time. A full description based on New ...Zealand specimens is provided. Riccia cavernosa was discovered in New Zealand in February 2016 growing on the margins of a series of artificial wetlands constructed to aid in the recovery of a threatened endemic wading bird (Himantopus novaezelandiae). Following a review of the status of R. cavernosa in New Zealand we conclude that the species is most likely a recent natural, long distance trans-Tasman wind-dispersed arrival from Australia where the species is locally common. The discovery increases the number of Riccia reported from New Zealand from 10 to 11. Prior to the discovery of R. cavernosa, only four of the 10 Riccia recorded from New Zealand were considered indigenous. The conservation status of R. cavernosa is briefly discussed and a provisional assessment of 'Threatened/Nationally Critical' assigned to the species using the New Zealand Threat Classification System.
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A new species of Stolonivector (Lophocoleaceae) has been found from two separate sites in southern New Zealand. Stolonivector echioides has been assigned to this genus because it is has all the ...features of Stolonivector, namely the presence of stolons, a lack of secondary pigmentation, both lateral- and ventral-intercalary branching types, leafy branches that often become flagelliform, highly variable leaf apices on female shoots that are usually bifid towards the base of the stem becoming more shallowly bifid, retuse or entire towards the apex of the stem, and underleaves with apices that vary in the degree of division along the same stem ranging from undivided to deeply bifid. The most distinctive character that distinguishes this species from others in the genus is the spinose surface of leaves and perianths. This new addition brings the total number of New Zealand Stolonivector species to six, four of which are endemic.
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The monotypic genus Perssoniella with P. vitreocincta Herzog, endemic to New Caledonia, possesses a series of unique morphological characters and it has been assumed that the genus, assigned to the ...family Perssoniellaceae and suborder Perssoniellineae, is very isolated but sister to the family Schistochilaceae. The systematic identity of Perssoniella vitreocincta was studied using DNA sequence data for the chloroplast rbcL, rps4 and trnL-F regions. Our analyses placed Perssoniella vitreocincta within the family Schistochilaceae, and within Schistochila itself, with strong support. It suggests that retaining Perssoniella as an independent genus is untenable and we transfer it to the genus Schistochila. Our results indicate that Perssoniella vitreocincta is not an archaic species, as presupposed earlier. The differentiating characters in Perssoniella are mostly probably later derived, rather than ancestral. Our analyses also placed Pachyschistochila and Paraschistochila within Schistochila, again with strong support. We also transfer these two genera to Schistochila.
Cheilolejeunea sicilicula S. Fish & Glenny, a new species of liverwort from lowland indigenous forest reserves in Westland and Western Nelson provinces in South Island, New Zealand, is described and ...illustrated. In New Zealand it is superficially similar to C. campbelliensis (Steph.) R. M. Schust., C. novaezelandiae R. M. Schust. and C. albovirens (Hook.f. & Taylor) E. A. Hodgs, which are all small-leaved species with leaves that range from 195 to 500 µm long. Cheilolejeunea sicilicula differs from these species in having a curved second tooth, and in having elongated cells along the antical free margin of the lobule. Molecular phylogenetic analyses resolve C. sicilicula as a member of the tropical section Cyrtolejeunea which has five extant species and a Miocene fossil species. This section was previously unknown in New Zealand. The addition of Cheilolejeunea sicilicula to the New Zealand flora brings the number of accepted New Zealand Cheilolejeunea species to 12, six of which are endemic.
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•We examined origin and historical biogeography of transantarctic disjunct liverwort family Schistochilaceae.•The Schistochilaceae is inferred to have originated in the Late ...Cretaceous around 100Mya.•New Zealand was an early centre of radiation by long distance dispersal.•Antarctica is assumed to have played an important role in the evolution the family.•The distribution and biogeographic history of the family is very similar to that of Nothofagaceae.
The liverworts are the first diverging land plant group with origins in the Ordovician. The family Schistochilaceae exhibits diverse morphology and widely disjunct geographic ranges within the Southern Hemisphere. The family has been presented as a classic example of Gondwanan biogeographic distribution, with extant species ranges resulting from vicariance events. In this study, we present results that elucidate the origin and diversification of Schistochilaceae. We conducted a comprehensive time-calibrated, molecular-based phylogenetic analysis and different approaches for ancestral range inference of the family. Schistochilaceae is inferred to have originated in the Late Cretaceous, in an ancestral area including southern South America, West Antarctica and New Zealand. Despite a family origin at c. 100Ma, most of the diversification of Schistochilaceae occurred in New Zealand after the 80Ma opening of the Tasman Sea that isolated New Zealand from the rest of Gondwana. Most dispersals were transoceanic. The northward migration of the Schistochilaceae is probably linked with the spread of temperate vascular plant forest ecosystems that have Late Cretaceous southern origins and have maintained suitable environments for the family throughout the Cenozoic. The distribution and biogeographic history of the family is very similar to that of Nothofagaceae.
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