Telaranea herzogii (E.A.Hodgs.) E.A.Hodgs.
Telaranea herzogii (E.A.Hodgs.) E.A.Hodgs., Rec. Domin. Mus. 4: 106. 1962.
Arachniopsis herzogii (E.A.Hodgs.) E.A.Hodgs., Tuatara 12: 6. 1964.
Type: New Zealand, North Is., Russell, Bay of Islands, Lindauer 281 (CHR!).
Telaranea exigua R.M.Schust., Nova Hedwigia 15: 457. 1968.
Holotype: New Zealand, North Is., Mt. Egmont, along Stratford Mtn. Road, E side of mountain, ca. 2000 ft., Schuster 48916b (non vidi).
[Plate 6B; Figs. 75, 76; Fig. 77: 2, oil-bodies, p. 355]
Plants exceedingly delicate, minutely prickly in appearance, creeping to ascending, whitish green and nitid; shoots minute, to 630 µm wide with leaves. Branching sparing to very common, irregular, not becoming flagelliform; branch half-leaf stiffly dorsally assurgent, undivided, setaceous; first branch underleaf at base of branch, strongly asymmetrically bilobed, consisting of a divergent lobe, (2)3–4 cells long and a ± appressed, curved lobe aligned with the branch, resembling an underleaf lobe and consisting of a short basal cell and a ± elongated distal cell, the lobe terminating in a slime papilla, a rhizoid commonly originating from the basal cell. Ventral-intercalary branches occasional to predominant, long and leafy. Stems very delicate, rather stiff for plant size, the cortical cells in 6–9 rows, much larger than the medullary cells which are in 3(4) to 6–11(18) rows. Main shoots with 3–4 cortical cells intervening between successive leaves on either side, the branches with 2–3 cells intervening between successive leaves on either side of branch. Leaves rather rigid, contiguous to weakly imbricate (strongly imbricate on branches), widely spreading to subsquarrose, the insertion transverse to weakly succubous, (245)300–450(490) × 245–420 µm (at tips of spreading lobes), 2–3-fid almost to the base (the basal cells connate for 0.1–0.4 their length), the ventral lobe somewhat shorter. Lobes stiff, gradually tapering from base to apex, straight to broadly incurved, moderately to strongly divergent, on branches disposed in ± regular ranks, uniseriate throughout (sporadically one or more lobes biseriate at extreme base), gradually tapering, the lobes (4)5–6(7) cells long, ± equal in length, or in 3-lobed leaves the ventral lobe perceptibly shorter; basal cells 18–26 µm wide × (66)95–120 µm long, the next cell 14–20 × 56–98 µm; lobe cells gradually shorter and narrower distally, the terminal cell usually much shorter than the penultimate cell; cell walls thin but firm to moderately thick-walled, the transverse septa thickened in the corners and not or feebly swollen and projecting; surface smooth. Oil-bodies opaque, dull, greyish, (5)6–11 per basal cell of lobe, broadly elliptic to irregularly crescentic, often lumpy and irregular, very finely papillose, the globules imperceptibly bulging from membrane, oil-bodies 6.5 × 9 µm to 6–7 × 10–12 µm, less commonly spherical and 7 µm in diam., oil-bodies in second lobe cell 4–6 per cell, mostly spherical and 6–8 µm in diam. or nearly spherical and 7 × 8 µm; oil-bodies of stem cells much smaller and overall narrower, irregularly fusiform to linear to crescentic but with similar ornamentation to oil-bodies of leaves. Underleaves small and inconspicuous, 2(rarely 3)-lobed, caliper-like, the lobes parallel to somewhat divergent, 2–3 cells long (rarely 1 cell), terminating in a hooked slime papilla, the base formed of 2 basally connate, curved cells forming a U-shaped disc, the distal cell(s) elongated; individual rhizoids originating from the base or apex (rarely both) of the basal lobe cells, or the basal cells subdivided into 6–8 small, quadrate, rhizoid initials, with a rhizoid emerging from each. Asexual reproduction lacking. Fungal partner an ascomycete.
Plants apparently dioecious. Androecia not seen. Gynoecial bracts delicate, deeply dissected, 2–3-lobed, the lobes 2–4 cells wide at base, terminating in a uniseriate row of 5–6 elongated, tapering cells, each lobe armed with paired uniseriate cilia inserted at apex of the basal tier of lobe cells, the cilia 2–4-celled, often ending in a slime papilla; disc of 2(3) tiers of longitudinally elongate cells, the margins of disc entire or with a blunt tooth on one or both sides at base of the lateral lobes; bracteoles 2-lobed, otherwise similar to bracts. Perianth rather short, terete in basal half, bluntly trigonous above, somewhat contracted at the mouth, the mouth shallowly lobulate-ciliate, the cilia ca. 6–10 (interspersed with smaller 1–2-celled teeth), several cells wide at the extreme base, ending in a stiffly divergent uniseriate process of 4–9 elongate cells, the cilia often armed with few-celled lateral spurs or a single lateral spur inserted at the septa.
Seta with 8 rows of outer cells surrounding an inner core of 4–10 much smaller cells. Capsule rather short- to long-ellipsoidal, 190 µm wide, 345 µm long, the wall 16–18 µm thick, uniformly 2-stratose, the outer layer subequal to the inner, or slightly thicker; outer layer of cells ± regularly short-rectangular, with two-phase development, the longitudinal walls with nodule-like thickenings (4–6 per cell) alternating with primary walls devoid of thickenings (or rarely with local, pigmented, nodular swellings), the transverse walls without thickenings; innermost layer of cells somewhat irregularly narrowly rectangular, the radial walls with continuous sheets of wall material, the radial walls mostly with nodular thickenings and short spine-like extensions onto the exposed tangential wall, only exceptionally with complete semiannular bands.
Spores 7.5–8.8 to 10.6–12 µm in diam., the wall yellow-brown, rather thin-walled, areolate, with a low, close network of ridges coalescing to delimit areolae. Elaters rather straight, 6.5–7.5 to 9.6–11 µm wide, only slightly tapering and bispiral to tips, the spirals 2.9–3.4 µm wide.
Distribution and Ecology : New Zealand: Stewart Island (20–200 m), South Island (10– 890 m), North Island (25–890 m); Australia: Tasmania, Victoria. In New Zealand known from Fiordland, Southland, Otago, Westland, Canterbury (Arthur’s Pass), Western Nelson, Southern North Island, Volcanic Plateau, Auckland and Northland EPs.
In New Zealand the species is found rather commonly on loamy, moist, shaded soil. It occurs for the most part in lower- to middle-elevation moist or swampy forests where it is on soil in protected pockets or shaded hollows associated with, for example, Acromastigum colensoanum, Bazzania nitida, Lepidozia digitata, Riccardia colensoi, Saccogynidium australe, Telaranea elegans, T. tetradactyla, T. tetrapila and Zoopsis leitgebiana.
It may occur over soil of the forest floor deep in humid recesses formed by rock ledges (e.g., Lake Marion, Fiordland) or it may form a loosely creeping, pure, felt-like covering over soil deep in pockets at tree bases (e.g., Hauturu Highpoint Track, Little Barrier Island). It is rather frequent in humid sites such as steep-sided stream banks and occurs loosely over soil in protected niches; in particularly humid sites it may be epiphyllous on filmy ferns such as Trichomanes elongatum. Also in moist, dense, tree-fern gullies, where Telaranea herzogii may be terricolous or on tree-fern caudices (of Cyathea dealbata or Dicksonia squarrosa). It also may be encountered rather commonly in cushions of Leucobryum candidum. It is much less frequent at higher elevations, as in the Temple Basin ski area (Arthur’s Pass).
Comments : The delicate, densely interwoven, prickly and highly nitid shoots of Telaranea herzogii lend this species a distinctive appearance. The leaf lobes are uniseriate throughout (or sporadically biseriate at the base) and the basal cells are barely united, forming a “disc” of considerably less than one cell high (Fig. 75: 5, 6). In this connection it should be noted that the plant illustrated by Schuster (1969c, p. 33, fig. 88: 4–6) as T. herzogii is, in fact, T. inaequalis. The leaf lobes of T. inaequalis are rather flexuous, show essentially no taper and are unequal in length (Fig. 78: 4), the longest up to 9 cells long, and the lobe cells are of roughly equal length throughout. The leaves of T. herzogii are also ± asymmetrical, but the lobes are stiffly spreading and distinctly tapering, usually 5 (rarely 6) cells long (Fig. 75: 1, 5–7), the cells progressively narrower and shorter from base to apex (Fig. 75: 7). The first branch underleaves of T. inaequalis are equally bilobed like the other stem underleaves (Fig. 78: 3) vs. asymmetrically bilobed in T. herzogii (Fig. 75: 10).
Plants of Telaranea herzogii resemble those of T. quinquespina, but the latter can be readily distinguished by the combination of Microlepidozia -type branching, slender thread-like stems, firm-walled cortical cells (Fig. 74: 8, 9), a biseriate tier of cells at the base of each leaf lobe (Fig. 74: 6, 7) and asymmetrically bilobed underleaves (Fig. 74: 1), the larger lobe similar to (and only slightly shorter than) the lobe of a leaf (Fig. 74: 4). The first branch underleaf of T. quinquespina is also unusual in being symmetrically bilobed and resembling a leaf; in T. herzogii it is asymmetrically bilobed, with one lobe much shorter and ending in a slime papilla. Telaranea quinquespina has frequent, leafless, geotropic ventral-intercalary and lateral-intercalary stolons.
“ Telaranea herzogii var. nana ” (Schuster, Beih. Nova Hedwigia 118: 230. f. 77: 4–9; 79. 2000, published without a Latin description) is a synonym of T. herzogii. The variety was based on a specimen from Stewart Island (Schuster 60670).
