BRIOLOGÍA
Rediscovery and lectotypification of Dicranella lorentzii (Dicranellaceae, Bryophyta)
Guillermo M. Suárez1, 2, 4, Juan Larraín3 y María M. Schiavone1, 2
1Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel
Lillo, Miguel Lillo 205, 4000 San Miguel de Tucumán,
Tucumán, Argentina. e-mail: suarezgm@csnat.unt.edu.ar; magui@csnat.unt.edu.ar
2Fundación Miguel Lillo, Miguel Lillo 251, 4000 San Miguel
de Tucumán, Tucumán, Argentina.
3Departamento de Botánica, Universidad de Concepción,
Casilla 160-C, Concepción, Chile. e-mail: juanlarrain@udec.cl
4Consejo Nacional de investigaciones Científicas y
Técnicas (CONICET).
Summary: The rediscovery of fertile populations of Dicranella lorentzii (Müll.Hal.) Broth. allowed the detailed examination of this forgotten endemic taxon of NW Argentina, and its comparison with other South American species. We present a redescription of the species, together with its first illustration. A lectotype for this name is here designated.
Key words: Aongstroemia; Argentina; Dicranaceae.
Resumen. Redescubrimiento y lectotipificación de Dicranella lorentzii (Dicranellaceae, Bryophyta). El redescubrimiento de poblaciones fértiles de Dicranella lorentzii (Müll.Hal.) Broth. permitió un examen detallado de este taxón endémico del Noroeste de Argentina y su comparación con otras especies sudamericanas. En esta contribución presentamos una redescripción de la especie, junto con las primeras ilustraciones de la misma. Se designa un lectótipo para este nombre.
Palabras clave: Aongstroemia: Argentina; Dicranaceae.
Introduction
Northern Argentina bryophyte flora has received
considerable amount of studies by both local and
foreign researchers. One of the pioneer botanists
that collected bryophytes in this area was Paul
Günther Lorentz (1835-1881), a German botanist
and biogeographer that worked as botany professor
at the National Academy of Sciences of Córdoba
between 1870 and 1874, hired by the Argentinean
government to make an inventory of the NW flora.
Then, he moved to Concepción del Uruguay, where
he continued his work as botany professor of the
National School of Concepción del Uruguay, where
he died a few years later by a liver inflammation
(Frahm & Eggers, 2001). During his years in South
America, Lorentz made several expeditions to central
and northern Argentina and Uruguay collecting
bryophytes, lichens and vascular plants, resulting in
more than 1000 new plant species gathered between
1871-1881 (Frahm & Eggers, 2001).
During the examination of some bryophyte
collections recently gathered at "La Ciénaga",
a high dry grassland in NW Argentina (Tafí del
Valle, Tucumán Province) (Ellis et al., 2010, 2011;
Suárez et al., 2010) some of them were identified
as Dicranella lorentzii (Müll. Hal.) Broth., a
forgotten moss species since its description in 1882.
It was originally collected by Lorentz in one of his
expeditions to northern Argentina. Examination of
additional Dicranella material collected nearby,
yielded more records for this scarcely known taxon.
The species was originally described by C.
Müller (1882) as Aongstroemia lorentzii Müll.
Hal. (the name was published as Åongströmiae but
according to the International Code of Botanical
Nomenclature, article 60.6, the diacritical signs
should not be used in the Latin plant names). He
originally placed it in the section Diobelon (Hampe)
Müll. Hal., a taxon proposed by Hampe (1871) to
accommodate Dicranum Hedw. species having crispate leaves, often papillose laminal cells, and
serrate apex, in which Hampe included the known
species of Dichodontium Schimp. In any case,
this taxon is illegitimate because Hampe did not
provide a description for it. It seems that for both
Müller and Hampe, this group of species previously
associated with D. polycarpum was more related to
some Seligeraceae, Ditrichaceae (e.g. Ceratodon)
and Pottiaceae (e.g. Weissia) species than to the
rest of the Dicranaceae. Perhaps because of this
originally ambiguous systematic placement of
the species, it was subsequently transferred to
the genera Dichodontium (Paris, 1894-1898),
Dicranella (Brotherus, 1901), and Anisothecium
(Brotherus, 1924); it was recognized under the later
genus in the recent checklist of mosses of Argentina
(Matteri, 2003). According to the morphological
characterization of the genus Dicranella given by
Larraín et al. (2010), and the generic and specific
limits used by Churchill & Linares (1995), this
species is best placed within Dicranella.
During a visit to the Natural History Museum
of London (BM), we found original material
of Dicranella lorentzii. We also searched in the
Brotherus herbarium in Helsinki (H), but did
not find any specimen of this taxon. Due to the
destruction of Müller's herbarium at Berlin (B), it
is very likely that the original material present in
BM is the only extant, and for this reason it is here
chosen as the lectotype for this name.
In this contribution to the knowledge of South
American mosses, we present a complete description
of this scarcely known taxon, together with its
first illustration and distribution map, including
ecological data and discussing its relationships with
other Dicranella species.
Taxonomic Treatment
Dicranella lorentzii (Müll.Hal.) Broth., Die
Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien I (3): 311. 1901. ≡
Aongstroemia lorentzi Müll. Hal., Linnaea 43: 389.
1882. ≡ Dichodontium lorentzii (Müll.Hal.) Paris, Index Bryologicus 322. 1894. ≡ Anisothecium
lorentzii (Müll.Hal.) Broth., Die Natürlichen
Pflanzenfamilien, Zweite Auflage 10: 178. 1924.
Type citation: Argentina subtropica, Sierra de
Tucumán, in alpinis "der Ciénega" [sic], 1872.
Lectotype (selected here): Herb. Emil
Bescherelle: 1900. Ångströmia (Diobelon) Lorentzi C. Müll. Sierra de Tucumán, in alpinis der Cienega,
1872. (BM!). (Figs. 1 y 2).
Fig. 1. Dicranella lorentzii. A: Habit in wet. B: Habit in dry. C: Sporophyte. D: Leaves. E: Apical cells. F:
Median cells. G: Basal cells. H: Leaf cross sections. Scale bars: a = 1 mm (A, B); b = 500 μm (C); c = 250
μm (D); d = 25 μm (E-H). From G. Suárez 774 (LIL).
Fig. 2. Dicranella lorentzii. A: Propagules. B: Axillary
hairs. Scale bar = 15 μm. From G. Suárez 774 (LIL).
Plants small, green to yellowish green, forming lax or dense, pure tufts. Stems erect, to 1 cm long, simple or branching by innovations, in cross section rounded, with a central strand, cortex formed by 1-2 rows of enlarged cells with trigones, and with one substereid strand. Axillary hairs with 1-2 (-3) brown basal cells and 1-2 (-3) distal hyaline cells, 20-60 μm long (Fig. 2B). Leaves 1.3-1.8 mm long, becoming larger and more crowded at the apex of the plant, loose, erect, flexuose, sometimes crispate, sub-amplectant, lamina tubulose when wet, and patent when moist; margin entire; apex blunt; costa subpercurrent, less than 1/3 the leaf width at the base and 1/5 at midleaf, smooth dorsally, in cross section with dorsal and ventral epidermis, with 1 row of guide cells, with a well-developed dorsal stereid band and a few ventral stereids; upper laminal cells rectangular, firm walled, becoming long and wide rectangular at the leaf base. Rhizoidal propagules present, reddish brown, the body formed by isodiametric thinwalled cells, 15-30 μm long (Fig. 2A). Dioecious. Perichaetia and perigonia terminal; perigonial leaves with wide and concave base, erect lamina; antheridia pedunculate, surrounded by filiform paraphyses with widened distal cells; perichaetial leaves similar to vegetative leaves but larger. Seta single, brown, erect to something flexuose, 1.5-2.0 mm long, smooth. Capsule erect, subglobose to ovoid when mature, brown, gradually narrowed towards the mouth and the base, smooth; exothecial cells subquadrate to short-rectangular, 37.5-60.5 × 18-25 μm, stomata 2-4 at the base, red; peristome teeth 16, inserted below the mouth, reddish, bordered, trabeculate, broadly perforated or divided, striate papillose, basal membrane low, smooth; operculum long rostrate, curved. Spores oval to spherical, brown, finely papillose, 25-27 μm. Calyptra cucullate, smooth.
Specimens examined: ARGENTINA. Tucumán. Depto. Tafí del Valle, "La Ciénaga", Pastizal de
Neblina, entre rocas de gran tamaño, 26°47'10''S,
65°39'04''W, 2636 m, 8-IV-2010, G. Suárez 774
(LIL); Quebrada de la Toma, 2625 m, IX-2002, D.
Ruiz 857 (CONC, LIL); ruta provincial 307, Km 72,
La Bolsa, en el lecho del río, 2550 m, 12-IV-1995, M.
Schiavone & B. Biasuso 1457 (CONC, LIL).
Habitat: Known from only two localities in the
same province, it is a frequent species in the high
grassland of "La Ciénaga" where it grows on river
banks, sheltered by large rocks, and in the valley.
Different collections made along the year show that
plants found in the river banks had well-developed
sporophytes, while in the valley no sporophytes
have been seen, although they produce male and
female gametangia. Dicranella lorentzii grows
forming pure turfs, but it has been found mixed with
a few plants of Pohlia wahlenbergii (F. Weber & D.
Mohr) A. L. Andrews.
This species is close to D. callosa (Hampe)
Mitt., from Colombia and Bolivia, because both
share a similar distance of the leaves when dry,
although D. callosa can be distinguished by its
longer and wider leaves, flexuose when wet. The
sporophytes of D. lorentzii resembles those of D. hilariana (Mont.) Mitt., a widely distributed
species in the Neotropics, however gametophytic
characters such as leaf apex and basal laminal cells
can easily differentiate that species.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to the curators of BM and H. This research was carried out with financial support from CIUNT, Botanica Myndel Fundation, and CONICET (PIP 2012-2014).
Bibliography
1. BROTHERUS, V. F. 1901. Dicranaceae. In: A. Engler & K. Prantl (eds.), Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien nebst ihren Gattungen und wichtigeren Arten inbesondere den Nutzpflanzen,. I (3) - Musci (Laubmoose), pp. 289-342.Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig.
2. BROTHERUS, V. F. 1924. Musci (Laubmoose) 1. Hälfte. In: A. Engler (ed.), Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien nebst ihren Gattungen und wichtigeren Arten inbesondere den Nutzpflanzen, 10. Leipzig, Wilhelm Engelmann.
3. CHURCHILL, S. P. & E. L. LINARES. 1995. Prodromus bryologiae Novo-Granatensis: introducción a la flora de musgos de Colombia. Parte 1: Adelotheciaceae a Funariaceae. Bibliot. José Jerónimo Triana 12: 1-453.
4. ELLIS, L. T., A. K. ASTHANA, V. SAHU, B. H. BEDNAREK-OCHYRA, R. OCHYRA, M. J. CANO, D. P. COSTA, B. CYKOWSKA, D. A. PHILIPPOV, M. V. DULIN, P. ERZBERGER, M. LEBOUVIER; H. MOHAMED; J. D. ORGAZ, N. PHEPHU, J. VAN ROOY, A. STEBEL, G. M. SUÁREZ, M. M. SCHIAVONE, C. C. TOWNSEND, J. VÁŇA, G. VONČINA, O. T. YAYINTAS, K. T. YONG & R. H. ZANDER. 2010. New National and Regional Bryological Records, 25. J. Bryol. 32: 311-322.
5. ELLIS, L. T., A. K. ASTHANA, V. SAHU, A. SRIVASTAVA, H. BEDNAREK-OCHYRA, R. OCHYRA, J. CHLACHULA, M. T. COLOTTI, M. M. SCHIAVONE, Z. HRADILEK, M. S. JIMENEZ, H. KLAMA, M. LEBOUVIER, R. NATCHEVA, T. PÓCS, R. D. PORLEY, C. SÉRGIO, M. SIM-SIM, V. R. SMITH, L. SÖDERSTRÖM, S. ŞTEFĂNUŢ, G. M. SUÁREZ & J. VÁŇA. 2011. New national and regional bryophyte records, 28. J. Bryol. 33: 237-247.
6. FRAHM J-P. & J. EGGERS. 2001. Lexikon Deutschsprachiger Bryologen. Books on Demand, Norderstedt.
7. HAMPE, E. 1871. Das Moosbild. Verh. Zool.-Bot. Ges. Wien 21: 375-398.
8. LARRAÍN, J., G. M. SUÁREZ, H. BEDNAREKOCHYRA & R. OCHYRA. 2010. The rediscovery of Dicranella circinata (Dicranellaceae, Bryophyta), with comments on other southern South American species of Dicranella. Nova Hedwigia 91: 361-376.
9. MATTERI, C. M. 2003. Los musgos (Bryophyta) de Argentina. Trop. Bryol. 24: 33-100.
10. MÜLLER, C. 1882. Prodromus bryologiae Argentinicae II, seu musci Lorentziani Argentinici. Linnaea 43: 341-486.
11. PARIS, É. G. 1894-1898. Index Bryologicus sive enumeratio muscorum hucusque cognitorum adjunctis synonyma distributione que geographica locupletissimis. Apud Paul Klinksieck, Parisiis.
12. SUÁREZ, G. M, M. M. SCHIAVONE & R. H. ZANDER. 2010. Sporophytes in the genus Saitobryum (Pottiaceae, Bryophyta). Gayana Bot. 67: 125-129.
Recibido el 19 de abril de 2012,
aceptado el 08 de
noviembre de 2012.