Lophozia monoica
Metahygrobiella monoica E.A.Hodgs. of New Zealand, Trans. Roy. Soc. New Zealand, Bot. 3: 76. 1965.
Lophozia monoica (E.A.Hodgs.) J.J.Engel, Novon 17: 311. 2007.
Holotype: New Zealand, South Is., Fiordland, mountains above Nancy Sound, 3600 ft., Jan. 1963, Burrows s.n. (MPN, herb. Hodgson no. 12548!); isotype: (CHR – absens).
Plants golden brown, the leaf lobes and ♂ bracts at times tinted with rose, rather flaccid, shoots small, to 840 µm wide. Stems with cortical cells numerous, in 1(2) layers of firm-walled cells, the cells similar to the medullary in size or a little smaller, the ventral cortical cells not smaller, with mycorrhizal hyphae in some cells, a hyaloderm completely absent; medullary cells numerous, thin-walled. Branches (vegetative) not seen. Leaves suberect to obliquely spreading, feebly dorsally assurgent, contiguous, succubously oriented and inserted, ovate to short-subrectangular, mostly 2-, sporadically 3-lobed to 0.3–0.35, the lobes medium to broadly acute, tapering to the tip but the summit not sharp, the lobes terminating in a single subisodiametric cell that is rounded at the summit. Cells of leaf with trigones present, distinct, small and concave-sided to medium and straight-sided, the cells at lobe base 24–30 µm wide × 23–36 µm long, the median cells 22–29 µm wide × 30–40 µm long; surface faintly striolate. Underleaves (vegetative shoots) present, reduced and inconspicuous, free but closely juxtaposed to leaf base, few- to several-celled, at times feebly lamella-like and consisting of several tiers of cells, often with a uniseriate row of 2–3 cells. Asexual reproduction ?absent.
Plants paroecious or autoecious (with ♂ on a subfloral innovation), ♂ bracts below perianth with the inflexed, lobule-forming margin with a tooth distally; bracts on androecial branch contiguous, bilobed, the lobes broadly acute, the entire bract strongly ventricose-cucullate, the basal portion notably inflated and crenate in profile by distinctly bulging cells; antheridia 1–2 per bract, the stalk 2–3-seriate. Gynoecial bracts not crowded, 3–4-lobed, the lobes medium acute, subequal or the ventral a little smaller, the lobes with entire margins; bracteole present, narrow, ca. 0.3–0.5 the perianth width, connate to 0.6 with bract on 1 side, bifid to ca. 0.45 by sharply acute lobes. Perianth elongate fusiform-cylindrical, narrowing rather abruptly toward the contracted mouth, plicate only in sector just below the mouth, the mouth denticulate to spinose-dentate by cells that are free only from just below the summit grading to nearly entirely free to their bases, the cells somewhat elongated, 60 × 12 µm ranging to 96 × 19 µm (4.5–6.1:1), notably thick-walled, rather sharply angled to the summit or the summit narrowly rounded.
Seta seen only in collapsed state. Capsule not seen.
Distribution and Ecology : Endemic to New Zealand: South Island (1100 m). Known from Fiordland EP.
Known only from the type; plants occurred admixed with Riccardia sp.
Comments : The species has been mentioned in the literature only a few times since described by Hodgson, and comments were solely those expressing uncertainty of taxonomic position. Schuster (1969c, p. 88; 2002a, footnote p. 13) mentioned that the species was not a Metahygrobiella, but did not indicate its disposition.
Lophozia monoica is tentatively placed in subg. Protolophozia; a more definitive placement should await the discovery of vegetative branches. These were not observed in type material. The species is similar to L. multicuspidata in the smooth leaf surface, the 1–2-layered stem cortex (Fig. 141: 11), the biseriate antheridial stalks (Fig. 141: 13) and the autoecious or paroecious condition (Fig. 141: 1). It differs from that species in the ± isodiametric tip cell of the leaf lobes (Fig. 141: 6, 7), which is less sharp than in L. multicuspidata, the presence of at least some mycorrhizal hyphae in stem cells (Fig. 141: 11) and the smaller shoot size (to 840 µm wide). Lophozia multicuspidata, on the other hand, has apices of leaf lobes sharp, with the tip cell distinctly longer than wide (Fig. 142: 7, 8), stem cells without mycorrhizal hyphae (Fig. 142: 14) and a larger shoot size (to 1260 µm wide).
The description of this species is based solely on the type. However, we tentatively refer two collections to this species and briefly discuss them here. The first is from Mt. Brown (Westland EP, 1080 m, Glenny 9110, CHR 571758), which has only intercalary branching, mostly lateral and only a single ventral. Oil-bodies were illustrated from this plant (Fig. 146: 4); the data follows. Oil-bodies occupying a large portion of cell volume, opaque, light smokey grey, 9–17 per median cell of lamina, finely papillose, the spherules slightly protruding beyond membrane, the oil-bodies notably irregular in shape, globose to elliptic to fusiform to paramecioid and with one or both ends sharp-pointed to potato-shaped, some triangular in profile. At the Mt. Brown site plants occurred in a ditch on a south-facing slope on the surface of a bolster of Sphagnum cristatum, with Clasmatocolea humilis, Lepidozia obtusiloba and Riccardia lobulata under shrubs of Hebe subalpina, Dracophyllum longifolium, D. rosmarinifolium, with Chionochloa rubra and Celmisia armstrongii.
The second (Great Moss Swamp, Otago EP, 900 m, leg. G. A. M. Scott, CHR 422491) has only lateral-intercalary branches. The plants were found on the edge of a flush through tussock grassland, with Chiloscyphus bispinosus, Marchantia foliacea, Polytrichum commune and Riccardia aequicellularis.
