Herzogobryum teres (Carrington & Pearson) Grolle
Jungermannia teres Carrington & Pearson, Pap. & Proc. Roy. Soc. Tasmania 1887: 9. pl. 7, f. 1–16. 1888 (“Jungermania”).
Jamesoniella teres (Carrington & Pearson) Steph., Sp. Hepat. 2: 100. 1901.
Herzogobryum teres (Carrington & Pearson) Grolle, Oesterr. Bot. Z. 113: 223. 1966. M
Lectotype (cf. Grolle, 1966b): Tasmania, Mt. Wellington, Bastow.
Acolea magellanica C.Massal. & Steph. in C.Massal., Atti Reale Ist. Veneto Sci. Lett. Art. 87: 237. pl. 3: 5–7. 1928.
Type: Argentina, Isla de los Estados, Penguin Rookery, Spegazzini.
Jamesoniella inflexo-limbata Herzog, Trans. & Proc. Roy. Soc. New Zealand 68: 41. 1938.
Type: New Zealand, Mt. Tongariro, 12 Jan. 1933, Moore 130.
[Plate 16A, B; Fig. 175: 2, oil-bodies, p. 787]
Plants wiry, but rather fleshy and rigid, terete, julaceous, worm-like, somewhat nitid, green, at least upper surface of shoots, occasionally dull or rusty red or yellow-brown (but leaf margins decolorate), the shoots relatively stout, to 410 µm wide, the upper parts evenly leafy. Branching mostly lateral-intercalary, occasionally ?ventral-intercalary. Stems fleshy, colorless, stiff and wiry, the cells of ± the same size, the outer 1.5–3 cell layers pale and thin-walled; medullary cells slightly to distinctly thick-walled. Rhizoids scarce, scattered, colorless. Leaves erect, loosely appressed, mostly subcontiguous to weakly to moderately imbricate, the insertion feebly to distinctly succubous, the insertion line broad, basiscopically arched, bowed (insertion both dorsally and ventrally obliquely arched toward shoot apex), the insertion lines extending considerably beyond stem midline; leaves unistratose (or in larger phases with a 2-stratose median-basal field), concave, saucer-shaped, orbicular-ovate, wider than long when flattened, (22)24–40 cells wide at widest point, to 375–400 × 480–515 µm, broad-based and clasping the stem, unlobed; marginal cells differentiated into a hyaline, empty, incurved (especially apically) border (1)2–4 cells broad, the outermost row of radially or obliquely elongated cells (10–15 × 25–32 µm) that are relatively thin-walled and forming a crenulate, conspicuous border, often breaking down with age, the margin then erose; intramarginal cells thin- to clearly thick-walled, trigones minute to small and concave-sided or less often medium and straight-sided, the cells 15–25 × 15–26(29) µm medially and subapically; surface typically minutely papillose–short-striate, the striae oriented perpendicular to the cell walls, the surface rarely rather long-striate with striae oriented strictly longitudinal, the surface rarely smooth. Oil-bodies in intramarginal cells of leaf, absent from hyaline marginal cells which also lack cell contents, the oil-bodies occupying a small portion of the cell volume, pale smokey grey, 2–5 per cell, finely papillose, subglobose to irregularly elliptic, 3.8–5.3 × 6.7–7.7 µm, globose ones 4.8–5.8 µm in diam. Underleaves frequently developed, lanceolate, small to rather large, to 60 µm wide × 200 µm long, united for most of their length with an adjacent lateral leaf, hyaline, crenulate-margined. Fungal partner absent.
Dioecious. Androecia terminal but becoming intercalary; bracts in few pairs, lacking a lobule, slightly ventricose, the dorsal base slightly broadened and incurved; antheridia single, the stalk 2-seriate. Gynoecia terminal on abbreviated or long branches; bracts in several tightly imbricate series, those of innermost series larger than leaves, shallowly 2-lobed and irregularly and sparsely coarse-dentate to lobulate, with recurved margins, at least in sinuses; bracteole free, large, broad, rarely approaching bracts in size, usually pointed or bilobed or lobulate. Perianth long-emergent, Lophozia- like, ovate, strongly pluriplicate, apically strongly and sometimes rather abruptly contracted, not compressed, the mouth plurilobulate, the lobules denticulate by rectangular cells; perianth 1-stratose in the densely pluriplicate distal sectors, becoming 3–4(5)-stratose basally, the cells at and below mouth rectangular. Calyptra 2-layered to above its middle, becoming 3–4-layered toward middle and 4–5-layered toward base.
Sporophyte unknown.
Distribution and Ecology : “A circumsubantarctic species and the commonest and most widespread within the genus” (Bednarek-Ochyra et al., 2000, p. 139); New Zealand: Campbell Island, Stewart Island (600–720 m), South Island (1010–1970 m), North Island (1080–2300 m); Australia: Tasmania; Antarctica (Bouvetoya, South Orkney Islands, South Shetland Islands); South Georgia; Falkland Islands; southern South America (Tierra del Fuego); Tristan da Cunha; Gough Island; Marion Island. In New Zealand known from Fiordland, Otago, Westland, Canterbury, Sounds–Nelson, Taranaki (Mt. Taranaki), Volcanic Plateau (Tongariro Natl. Park) and Gisborne (Mt. Hikurangi) EPs.
The most frequent of our Herzogobryum species, typically associated with alpine areas and in these sites occurring on exposed faces of boulders and outcrops, in rock crevices or deep under protective rock overhangs or between boulders where a sizeably, often thick layer of soil has accumulated and on moist cliff faces. In such sites, it occurs with Acrolophozia pectinata, Andreaea acutifolia, Andrewsianthus cuspidatus, Arthroraphis alpina, Dicranoweisia antarctica, Jamesoniella colorata, Nothogymnomitrion erosum, Notholigotrichum australe, Racomitrium crispulum and Rhacocarpus purpurascens, more rarely, on Stewart Island, with Cryptochila acinacifolia, and in Otago with Ptilidium ciliare. Occasionally found in the penalpine zone, for example at 1240 m in an exposed stream valley through penalpine scrub of Halocarpus bidwillii, Ozothamnus leptophyllus and Phyllocladus alpinus (Taranaki Falls Track, Tongariro Natl. Park). On Stewart Island occurring on an exposed ledge of a large rock outcrop at 600–690 m in mosaic communities of penalpine cushion vegetation, herbfields, Chionochloa, prostrate Leptospermum scoparium, Olearia colensoi from 0.5 m to 2 m tall and significant areas of exposed rock (Mt. Rakeahua summit area). Plants vary from semi-isolated shoots to formation of loose to tight mats; plants exceptionally may form tight compact small mounds.
Comments : This is the largest New Zealand Herzogobryum species. Leaves normally are 24–40 cells wide at widest point, unlobed, with cells 15–25 × 15–26 µm medially and cell walls thin- to firm-walled with trigones minute to small and concave-sided. The stem cortex is ± undifferentiated with the cells of ± the same size throughout. Plants from exposed sites develop notable rust-red pigments except for the decolorate, bleached, marginal sectors.
Small phases of the species may have leaves only 17–21 cells wide and therefore may cause confusion. However, such plants have unlobed leaves, with median leaf cells 17–24 µm wide × 20–23 µm long. Such populations nevertheless may produce sporophytes.
