Lepidozia setigera Steph.
Lepidozia setigera Steph., Sp. Hepat. 3: 599. 1909.
Type: New Zealand, South Is., Okarito, Kirk 590 (G!).
[Fig. 34: 3, oil-bodies, p. 220]
Plants suberect to loosely ascending, somewhat flexuous, with ventrally secund branches, pale green, the shoots robust, to 3 cm wide, including branches. Branching mostly of Frullania type, closely and regularly pinnate, the primary branches often very long, becoming whip-like and flagelliform, the primary branches occasionally developing into new leading shoots; secondary branches occasionally present, 1(2) per primary branch; branch half-leaf ± symmetric, broadly ovate, 2-lobed to ca. 0.5, entire; first branch underleaf 3–4-lobed, with a few marginal cilia, inserted on lateral side of stem immediately below branch base and aligned with leaves of main shoot. Ventral-intercalary branching sporadic, stoloniform or leafy and developing into a new leading shoot. Stems stiff and woody, the cortical cells in 1 layer of thin-walled cells distinctly larger than medullary cells (up to 2× larger); medullary cells moderately thickened, the outer several rows with walls thicker than the median core cells. Leaves rigid, slightly concave, strongly imbricate and completely hiding stem in dorsal view, 1.5–1.7 mm long at longest point, 2–2.4 wide at widest point, patent, the insertion distinctly incubous and somewhat recurved at dorsal end; leaves distinctly asymmetric, unequally 4(5)-lobed, the leaves divided to ca. 0.5–0.6 (median sinus), the distance from dorsal sinus base to insertion greater than that from ventral sinus to insertion, gradually becoming deeper ventrally. Lobes subulate, the ventral lobe often spreading as a “claw,” the lobes entire, the dorsal lobes 8–11 cells wide at base, terminating in a uniseriate row of 6–10(12) cells (the ventral often somewhat longer); cells of uniseriate row often hyaline, tapering, with ± swollen dilated septa, 2–5:1, thick-walled, becoming longer and narrower toward the tip and capillary, the terminal cells finely tapering, 8–10:1, the surface finely striate-papillose. Disc distinctly asymmetric primarily due to strong dilation of dorsal sector, the dilated portion up to ca. 0.5 the disc area, the disc (18)20–25 cells high at dorsal sinus, 12–16 cells high at ventral sinus; dorsal margin distinctly and broadly ampliate, entire. Cells of disc-middle thin-walled, trigones large and bulging to knot-like, 26–33 µm wide × 34–52 µm long; median basal cells larger; surface smooth to indistinctly striate-papillose. Oil-bodies hyaline, 8–12 per cell in upper disc, subglobose to broadly to narrowly elliptic to ± linear, finely botryoidal, the spherules rather soon swelling. Underleaves often distinctly connate on one side (the connation to 7–8 cells high), spreading, concave, imbricate, symmetrically 4-fid to ca. 0.5–0.6 (median sinus), the sinus bases somewhat reflexed, the lobes plane or reflexed, diverging, filiform-attenuate from a narrow base and ultimately with a long-ciliiform tip, entire or with a ciliiform spine, the lobes appearing to terminate in a blunt tip, the lobe continuing as a subapical, often abaxially oriented, ciliiform process with a uniseriate row of 8–13 cells; disc margins somewhat reflexed, on each side often with a ciliiform process distally, the underleaves then appearing 6-lobed.
Androecia not seen. Gynoecia rarely produced, on abbreviated ventral-intercalary branches issuing from main stem; bracts of innermost series deeply concave, broadly ovate to suborbicular from a narrow base, 4(6)-lobed to ca. 0.5–0.6, the lobes caudate, the setaceous tips composed of a uniseriate row of 6–10, thick-walled, elongate cells, the lobes entire or with a few short to long basal cilia; lamina margins armed with spinose teeth and straight to contorted cilia; bracteole similar in size and form. Perianth long and prominent, slenderly cylindrical-fusiform, terete below, obscurely trigonous in distal 0.25–0.4, distinctly and deeply triplicate toward mouth, the perianth gradually narrowing toward the strongly contracted, contorted mouth, the contracted sector membranous and, with emergence of the capsule, splitting into 4–6 narrowly long-attenuate lobes; mouth cells 4–9:1, laterally fused for varying lengths and thickened at the summit, the mouth thus rather regularly crenulate to crenate-denticulate.
Seta 30–40 mm long, with 12–13 rows of large outer cells surrounding an inner core of ca. 40–50 small cells. Capsule wall 52–54 µm thick, of 5–6 layers; outer layer of cells with two-phase development, the longitudinal walls very thin, with sinuous, sheet-like swellings and a few nodule-like swellings alternating with walls that are devoid of thickenings, the transverse walls usually devoid of thickenings or sporadically have an isolated sheet-like thickening; innermost layer of cells ± tiered, narrowly rectangular, semiannular bands common, narrow, close and numerous, sporadically incomplete.
Spores 11–12.5 µm in diam., spore wall brown, thin, with dense, close papillae and short-vermiculate markings. Elaters rigid, nontortuous, 15.8–16.8 µm wide, slightly tapering toward tips, bispiral, the spirals 4.8–5.3 µm wide.
Distribution and Ecology : Endemic to New Zealand: South Island (60–305 m), North Island (260–340 m). Occurs in Southland (Catlins), Westland, Western Nelson, Auckland (Great Barrier Island) and Northland EPs. Not known from Fiordland or Stewart Island.
The species occurs sporadically in lowland forests where it is terricolous (at times forming small mounds) or on old, humus-covered logs, at times mixed with Bazzania adnexa. In the North Island it chiefly occurs in Agathis forests. It is rather common in the Waipoua Forest Reserve on relatively well-insolated peaty ground under, for example, old Leptospermum scoparium or on very rotted, bryophyte-covered shaded logs (at times mixed with Schistochila glaucescens) in Agathis forest containing Dacrydium and other podocarps.
Also known from Dacrydium cupressinum – Nothofagus menziesii and N. fusca forests, and from Leptospermum scoparium scrub. Found with Acromastigum anisostomum, Bazzania novae-zelandiae, Lepidozia microphylla, Rhaphidorrhynchium amoenum, Schistochila balfouriana and Tylimanthus saccatus.
Comments : This is one of the easiest of our species to identify. The lobes of both leaves and underleaves are setaceous at their apices, terminating in a uniseriate row of greatly elongated cells (8–10:1). Unlike Lepidozia ulothrix, which also has lobes terminating in a uniseriate row of elongated cells, this species has disc and lobe margins that are uniformly entire. Also notable is the broad and marked ampliation of the dorsal sector of the leaf, the dilated portion up to half of the disc area.
