Neomacounia, a New Genus in the Neckeraceae (Musci) from Canada
1974; American Bryological and Lichenological Society; Volume: 77; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/3241617
ISSN1938-4378
Autores Tópico(s)Lichen and fungal ecology
ResumoA new moss genus, Neomacounia, is described and illustrated. The genus is based on nitida Lindb. from southeastern Ontario, Canada, following the discovery of a second specimen of the species which provided additional morphological data. One of the rarest and most forgotten species of moss in Canada is nitida. It was described, without illustrations, by the Swedish botanist S. O. Lindberg in 1869 from a single collection made by John Macoun on 20 July 1864, just east of Belleville, Hastings County, in southeastern Ontario. No habitat information was given for the species by Lindberg, but nearly thirty years after its discovery, Macoun and Kindberg (1892) reported it was found at the type locality on elm trees in a swamp that has since been cleared. The only report, other than the one from the type locality, was in 1909 by N. C. Kindberg, another Swedish botanist, who named most of Macoun's specimens. He reported Forsstroemia nitida, hitherto found only near Ottawa, Canada, was found in Vancouver Island 1908 by Macoun. An examination of the only three Macoun collections named this species from Vancouver Island, British Columbia, in the National Herbarium of Canada, however, reveals that they are Alsia californica (Hook. & Am.) Sull., an endemic moss of western North America. In any event, the West Coast report was overlooked or ignored by most bryologists, and all descriptions of nitida to this date have been based entirely on the collection by Macoun from the type locality. Besides the scarcity of specimens, the number of plants preserved in herbaria from the type collection is very small. Both the holotype at the University of Helsinki and the isotype at the National Herbarium of Canada are extremely poor specimens in regard to the amount of plant material in each packet. There are only two or three stems with a few capsules in each of the type collections. Lindberg had little material from which to base his description, and as a result not could be learned about the variability of the species. A calyptra, which is important for distinguishing the genus Forsstroemia, was not available for Lindberg to describe. Following Lindberg's description of nitida, the species was accepted by most North American bryologists. Sullivant (1874), Lesquereux and James (1884), 1 J am grateful to Drs. T. Ahti and T. Koponen, University of Helsinki, for the loan of the type specimen. I thank Dr. F. J. Hermann, Forest Service Herbarium, Fort Collins, Colorado, for the Latin diagnosis. 2 Museum of Natural Sciences, National Museums of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A OM8. This content downloaded from 157.55.39.70 on Tue, 06 Sep 2016 05:14:35 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 454 THE BRYOLOGIST [Volume 77 and Grout (1934) all placed it in the genus Leptodon, recognizing as a synonym of it. Later, Patterson (1953) clarified the taxonomic status of Forsstroemia, the type species of which is F. trichomitria (Hedw.) Lindb., and established it as a genus distinct from Leptodon, of which the type species is L. smithii (Hedw.) Web. & Mohr. Sullivant (1874) was the first to illustrate nitida by publishing a set of drawings to show most of its essential features. Grout (1934), who used some of Sullivant's figures, was the only other person to provide illustrations. During the course of preparing a checklist of Ontario mosses, I discovered another specimen of nitida in the National Herbarium of Canada. The specimen was named Leptodon trichomitrion and was collected by John Macoun on 12 May 1862, two years before the collection which is the type of nitida. The only other data on the label were Belleville, Ontario. This specimen was not originally in the Macoun herbarium but was part of the George Lawson herbarium which was donated to the National Museums in 1950 by Mount Allison University in New Brunswick. Apparently, Macoun did not always keep a duplicate of everything he collected, and other herbaria may have specimens of nitida not represented in the National Herbarium of Canada. The 1862 collection contained many plants bearing numerous sporophytes so that more could be learned about the variability of the species. Also, one capsule was found bearing a smooth calyptra, thereby making nitida different from the remaining taxa in the genus, which have hairy calyptrae. A reassessment of nitida, resulting from the discovery of this 1862 specimen, necessitates describing a new genus to accommodate this rare moss. The species is fully illustrated to supplement or replace the drawings by Sullivant, which are only in part typical of the species. This was pointed out by Grout (1934), who commented that the apical cells are much shorter than figured by Sullivant. Neomacounia Ireland, gen. nov. Plantae autoicae, grandes, nitidae, flavovirentes. Caules primarii prostrati, caules secundarios subpinnatim ramosos julaceos ferentes. Ramuli interdum complanati. Paraphyllia vel pseudoparaphyllia nulla. Folia erecta, imbricata, concava, symmetrica vel parum asymmetrica, non vel breviter decurrentia, abrupte acuta acuminatave, marginibus planis ad apicem irregulariter serratis infra paene integra, costa indistinca, bifurcata vel raro singulari, supra medium folium soluta, aliquando nulla, cellulis laevibus, rhombiformibus vel fusiformibus, aliquis vermicularibus aliquot basi rectangularibus, parietibus incrassatis foveatis. Perichaetia perigoniaque numerosa in caulibus secundariis. Capsulae immersae, globosae, erectae, sine stomatibus. Seta recta, brevis. Annulus nullus. Operculum conicum vel oblique rostratum. Peristomium singulare dentibus sedecim, lanceolatis, supra laevibus, infra leviter striatis, fragilissimis. Calyptra laevis, cuculliformis. Sporae flavofuscae, globosae, ovoideae vel ellipsoideae, papillosae. Species typica: Forrstroemia nitida Lindb. The genus is named to honor John Macoun, a well-known Canadian explorer and botanist, who has contributed immensely to our knowledge of the flora of Canada. This content downloaded from 157.55.39.70 on Tue, 06 Sep 2016 05:14:35 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 1974] IRELAND: NEOMACOUNIA 455
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