Jamesoniella (Spruce) Carrington

Liverworts v1 (2008) - A Flora of the Liverworts and Hornworts of New Zealand Volume 1

Jamesoniella (Spruce) Carrington in Lees

Jamesoniella (Spruce) Carrington in Lees, London Cat. Brit. Moss Hepat., ed 2. 25. 1881.

Jungermannia subg. Jamesoniella Spruce, J. Bot. 14: 202, 230. 1876.

Type: Jamesoniella colorata (Lehm.) Schiffn. (≡Jungermannia colorata Lehm.)

Plants opaque, usually erect, exceptionally procumbent, yellow-green to, commonly, orange-brown to brownish red to deep carmine to fuscous, typically dull and not nitid, medium to vigorous, to 3 mm wide, the shoot tips inclined upward. Branching sparing, with terminal branches, when present, always of Frullania type; ventral-intercalary branches present; stoloniform, microphyllous branches usually absent. Stems with cortical cells strongly differentiated, with thickened walls and strong corner thickenings; paraphyllia lacking on sterile shoots. Rhizoids colorless, in most species also at shoot tips, often abundant, scattered, rarely mostly at ventral base of leaves. Leaves with orientation variable, ± vertical and erect to subhorizontal and widely spreading, imbricate, subtransversely to succubously oriented, the insertion obliquely succubous in dorsal half, extending to stem midline dorsally but not beyond, the ventral sector basiscopic, often ± strongly recurved, not or shortly decurrent, the dorsal margin scarcely short- to long-decurrent, the leaves undivided, entire, the ventral bases not strongly ampliate. Cells ± rounded-hexagonal, the median cells ± thin-walled, with trigones concave- to convex-sided, at times strongly bulging and knot-like, the trigones rarely lacking; surface often smooth or conspicuously papillose in median sector of leaf, the base finely striate to coarsely papillose. Oil-bodies 5–20 per cell, finely granular to papillose to botryoidal. Underleaves minute and ephemeral, in some species ± distinct, lanceolate; ventral merophytes ± narrow. Asexual reproduction absent (leaves somewhat fragile and fragmenting in Jamesoniella rubricaulis).

Dioecious (abnormally paroecious; cf. Grolle, 1971a, p. 34). Androecia terminal but becoming intercalary, ± spicate, the bracts in 4–10 pairs, mostly smaller than vegetative leaves, strongly ventricose, the dorsal base with an inflexed lobule, the lobule margin at times with a tooth; antheridia 1 per bract (2–3 in Jamesoniella undulifolia), the stalk 2-seriate ([2]4-seriate in J. undulifolia); paraphyllia often present between the bracts. Gynoecia with subinvolucral bracts strongly differentiated from leaves, the innermost series smaller than outer 1–2 series, often dimorphic, variously and irregularly armed, lobulate/laciniate and/or armed with cilia or teeth; bracteole large, nearly as long as bracts, usually over 0.25 area of bracts, elongate to lanceolate, variously armed or lobed, at least on flanks. Perianth at least 0.5 exserted, cylindrical-ovate, terete toward base, distally ± deeply 4–5-plicate (toward mouth sometimes secondarily to 10-plicate), the plicae straight and not twisted, rarely eplicate; perianth 2–several-stratose toward base.

Seta with numerous, ± equal-sized cells. Capsule ovoid-ellipsoidal, the wall 4–5(8)-stratose; outer layer of cells higher than any internal strata, with strong I-shaped, nodular thickenings; innermost layer of cells with semiannular bands.

Spores 14–30 µm in diam., granular to finely papillose, short-vermiculate to verrucate (coarsely and irregularly warty) or densely and strongly baculate. Elaters at times adhering to valve surface long after capsule dehiscence, (1)2(3)-spiral, 7–12 µm wide.

Key to Species

Plants plagiochiloid, with leaves spreading, the distal portion broadly reflexed, horizontally oriented, distinctly convex; underleaves conspicuous, laminar, subulate to narrowly elliptic, rarely deeply bifid

J. tasmanica (p. 719)

Plants not plagiochiloid, the leaves ± dorsally assurgent, vertically oriented, distinctly concave; underleaves inconspicuous, spine-like or filamentous

Leaves orbicular to broadly elliptic, shell-like, the margins narrowly inflexed throughout, otherwise plane and not undulate; leaf cells with trigones small to medium and straight-sided; plants terricolous or saxicolous

J. colorata (p. 722)

Leaves elliptic to oblong-ovate, channeled, the dorsal margins transversely undulate; leaf cells with trigones knot-like and confluent; plants corticolous

J. kirkii (p. 717)

Artificial Key to Species of Jamesoniella and Cryptochila based upon Vegetative Characteristics

Leaves lingulate, tightly shingled and appressed to stem in ventral aspect (shoots plano-convex), the dorsal margins stiffly vertically oriented

Leaves elliptic-ovate, orbicular to subreniform, not lingulate, not ventrally shingled and appressed to stem

Dorsal leaf margins regularly transversely undulate, unistratose throughout; median leaf cells with coarsely knot-like and in part confluent trigones; corticolous. Rather common, South and North Is.

Jamesoniella kirkii (p. 717)

Dorsal leaf margins not undulate, the decurrent base thickened, 2–3(4)-stratose; median leaf cells uniformly thick-walled, without trigones; terricolous. Rare, Campbell Is., Stewart Is., western South Is.

Cryptochila acinacifolia (p. 742)

Dorsal leaf bases strongly interlocking dorsally, not or weakly decurrent dorsally. Cells with walls thin, trigones distinct, medium to knot-like; surface of median and distal leaf cells smooth

Cryptochila nigrescens (p. 734)

Dorsal leaf bases not interlocking, the dorsal margins distinctly decurrent

Leaves coarsely papillose, the papillae large, crowded, guttulate. Plants often tinted with red or reddish throughout

Jamesoniella colorata (p. 722)

Leaves smooth, or striate-papillose only in basal portion

Plants lax, the leaves horizontally spreading, ovate to elliptic-ovate; underleaves often present and subulate, united to at least one leaf at ventral base

Jamesoniella tasmanica (p. 719)

Plants ± rigid, the leaves strongly ventrally secund, ± appressed to stem (particularly when dry), orbicular to reniform; underleaves absent or reduced to a uniseriate filament

Leaves usually distinctly squarrose when moist, the dorsal leaf margin erect-inflexed to involute. Plants often greenish, at times deep reddish brown to deep wine-red; cells moderately to strongly and evenly thick-walled, trigones lacking or very small and indistinct

Cryptochila grandiflora (p. 736)

Leaves rigidly convex, not squarrose, the dorsal leaf margin tightly and narrowly revolute from base to apex

Cryptochila pseudocclusa (p. 740)

A genus of, currently, 14 species. Grolle divided the genus into five sections, of which three occur in Austral areas:

1) sect. Robustae Grolle, with J. kirkii;

2) sect. Jamesoniella (type =J. purpurascens Steph.; cf. Grolle, 1971a, p. 55), including J. tasmanica, with a rather broad distribution in temperate Australasia, and J. purpurascens of South Africa (Cape), Transvaal, northeastern Madagascar, Mascarenes (Réunion, Mauritius) (Grolle, 1971a, p. 62);

3) sect. Coloratae Grolle, including J. colorata, with a pan-south-temperate distribution; this is the only representative of the genus in southern South America.

Note that Schuster (2002a, p. 405) mentioned sect. Purpurascentes R.M.Schust. in a key, but the name is not found elsewhere; Schuster included Jamesoniella tasmanica and J. purpurascens in the section.

Kitagawa (1981) treated Cuspidatula as a synonym of Jamesoniella; they are treated as discrete genera here. In Jamesoniella the leaves are rounded at the summit and the ♀ bracts are never deeply 2–3-fid vs. leaves strongly tapered and sharp and ♀ bracts deeply 2(3)-fid to 0.45–0.6 in Cuspidatula.

References: Grolle (1971a); Schuster (2002a).

Since plants of Jamesoniella may be confused with those of Cryptochila we have provided a separate, artificial key that combines the species of these two genera. (See also the key to distinguish J. colorata and Cryptochila grandiflora on p. 740.)