Neogrollea E.A.Hodgs.
Neogrollea E.A.Hodgs., Trans. Roy. Soc. New Zealand, Bot. 3: 70. 1965.
Type: Neogrollea notabilis E.A.Hodgs.
Plants subjulaceous, perfectly isophyllous, the underleaves indistinguishable from leaves, erect to procumbent, developing deep reddish to reddish brown to ferrugineous pigments, markedly water-repellent. Branching common, irregular, exceedingly plastic, commonly of Frullania and Acromastigum types and leafy throughout or becoming flagelliform; Microlepidozia -type branches occasional, leafy throughout; ventral- and lateral-intercalary branches also present; organization into a system of creeping, stoloniform, ramified axes and erect leafy shoots absent. Stems with cortical cells not differentiated from medullary cells or a little larger, the outer tangential wall distinctly thickened, the radial walls rather thin; medullary cells with thin walls but thickened angles. Leaves and underleaves densely imbricate, vertically oriented, rather strongly spreading, the insertion transverse or at times weakly incubous, the insertion extending to the stem midline; leaves and underleaves strongly concave, suborbicular to orbicular-quadrate, the broad apices irregularly 3–4-lobulate, the lobules at times apiculate, for the most part terminating in a single cell or a uniseriate row of 2(3) cells, the tip cell frequently with a slime papilla at the summit; margins (except at immediate base) with up to 5 (rarely 7) small, sharp or blunt, irregular teeth, the teeth variable, ranging from small ones that consist of a mere “bump” or projection of one cell or a mere uniseriate row of 2 cells to larger teeth composed of a uniseriate row of 2–3 cells subtended by a base of 2–5 cells. Cells in median sector of leaf subisodiametric, 27–38 µm wide and long, with trigones typically knot-like to nodulose, with the cell lumen often bounded mostly by the trigones, the trigones exceptionally medium and straight-sided or even a little concave; surface coarsely striate-papillose, the papillae are crowded and somewhat inconsistently distributed. Oil-bodies grey but appearing brownish in cells with pigments, 2–4 per cell, finely but prominently granular, spherical and 9–12 µm in diam. to banana-shaped, or sometimes elliptic-ovoid with acute ends, 9–10.5 × 15–22.5 µm. Fungal partner an ascomycete?
Plants dioecious. Androecia isophyllous, on short but not markedly abbreviated, slender, laxly spicate, ventral- and lateral-intercalary branches, occasionally proliferating vegetatively distally; bracts and bracteoles identical, in 3–5 gyres, ca. 0.25–0.3 the size of normal leaves and underleaves, moderately ventricose and with a 2–3(4)-lobulate apex; antheridia (1)2 per bract and bracteole, the stalk long, biseriate. Gynoecia on abbreviated ventral-intercalary branches issuing from main stem, the base of gynoecium moderately swollen, with a few rhizoids; bracts of innermost series larger than leaves, suberect (but never closely sheathing the perianth) grading to squarrose-recurved, deeply concave, feebly obovate to ± obtrapezoid, 3–5-lobed; lobes narrowly acute to acuminate, composed of at most moderately elongated cells, the lobes terminating in a uniseriate row of 2(3) moderately elongated (to 4:1) cells, the lobe margins irregularly dentate by 1–2-celled teeth or by the apical end of a marginal cell diverging and forming a tooth; lamina margin bordered by cells of variable shape and orientation, irregularly dentate to sublobulate, for the most part terminating in (or consisting of) a uniseriate row of 2–4 cells, at times the apical end of a marginal cell diverging and forming a tooth; bracteole similar in size and form. Calyptra extending to ca. 0.4 the perianth length, the unfertilized archegonia near the calyptra base. Perianth long and prominent, slenderly cylindrical-fusiform, terete below, obscurely trigonous above, distinctly and deeply plicate toward mouth, the perianth narrowing toward the distinctly contracted mouth; mouth ca. 12-lobulate, each lobule with 1(2) moderately thick-walled, contorted cilia and a few teeth below, the cilia composed of 2–3(5) elongate cells, the terminal cell of each cilium rounded at the summit and not sharp; perianth cells ± regularly subrectangular below mouth, the surface distinctly long-striate; perianth 3(locally 4)-stratose near base, becoming 2-stratose in median portion.
Seta long, elevating capsule well beyond perianth, with 14 rows of outer cells surrounding an inner core of ca. 27 much smaller cells. Capsule ellipsoidal, the wall 3-stratose and 38–44 µm thick to 4-stratose, and 46–52 µm thick, the inner layer subequal in thickness to intermediate layer(s) or a little thicker; outer layer of cells in surface view short-rectangular, notably thin-walled, with very imperfect two-phase development, i.e., the longitudinal walls with up to 5 large nodules (that may extend to 0.5 the cell width or a little more) alternating with walls with nodules typically sparingly developed and smaller, or, occasionally, the alternating walls devoid of thickenings, the transverse walls usually devoid of thickenings or sporadically with an isolated nodule; innermost layer of cells markedly narrowly rectangular, the radial walls with thin, continuous sheets of wall material, the walls with semiannular bands rather common, close, sometimes incomplete, sporadically forked, the radial walls with well-developed nodule-like thickenings often present, the innermost layer with strong, irregular thickenings at the cell ends (which are so thick that the transverse walls of the inner layer are difficult to observe).
Spores 19.7–20.6 µm in diam. (including bacula), the wall amber-brown, baculate, the bacula rather closely spaced, sometimes slightly wider at base, truncate at the apex and often flared, the bacula sometimes irregularly joined. Elaters tortuous, 9.6–10.6 µm wide, slightly tapering toward tips, bispiral to the tips, the spirals 4.3–4.8 µm wide, closely wound.
References: Engel and Braggins (2001); Hodgson (1965); Schuster (1973, 1999e, 2000a).
