Flora of New Zealand Series

Lepidozia roseana Steph., Sp. Hepat. 3: 590. 1909.

Neolepidozia roseana (Steph.) Fulford & J.Taylor, Brittonia 11: 85. 1959.

Telaranea roseana (Steph.) E.A.Hodgs., Rec. Domin. Mus. 4: 106. 1962.

Telaranea tetrapila var. roseana (Steph.) J.J.Engel & Merrill, Phytologia 79: 253. June 1996 (1995). 

Type: New Zealand, without specific loc., 1898, Petrie, “com. Rose” (G!).

[Fig. 62: 1–3]

Plants resembling Telaranea tuberifera; leaves rather flat and widely spreading; leaf lobes typically shorter than the disc, subcaudate, ± parallel with the disc margins; leaf disc parallel-sided and somewhat higher than wide, typically 8 cells wide in both distal and basal portions, the cells conspicuously large, hexagonal (as in var. tetrapila).

Distribution and Ecology : Endemic to New Zealand: South Island (125–455 m), North Island (150–800 m). Known from Fiordland, Southland, Otago, Westland, Western Nelson, Volcanic Plateau (Tongariro Natl. Park), Auckland (Whareorino Forest, Coromandel Forest Park) and Northland (Waipoua) EPs.

The var. roseana is known primarily from South Island in lower- to middle-elevation forests, especially on damp, clayey banks.

Comments : Plants assigned to this variety often bear a striking resemblance to Telaranea tuberifera, but differ by not having the glaucous surface or the strongly horizontal leaf orientation of that species; it also differs by the non-fragmenting lobe apices and the absence of tubers at the tips of flagelliform stolons. The leaves are obliquely oriented, as in var. tetrapila, but are typically rather flat, and diverging at a wider angle with the stem. As indicated in the species description, T. tetrapila is very variable, and even well-developed plants will have some leaves that are only 8 cells wide throughout the disc, particularly on the branches. The var. roseana, when well developed, has a very characteristic appearance, due to the conspicuously parallel-sided disc (somewhat higher than wide), which is typically 8 cells wide in both distal and basal portions (Fig. 62: 3), and the lobes are often straight and aligned with the disc margins.

The var. roseana differs from Telaranea paludicola by the more slender lobes, which are 2 (and only sporadically 3–4) cells wide at the base, and the very prominent, hexagonal disc cells are arranged in precise geometrical fashion.