Ludorugbya springbokorum (Pottiaceae) a new moss genus and species from the Western Cape Province of South Africa

Author： Hedderson Terry A. Zander Richard H.

ISSN： 1743-2820

Source： Journal of Bryology, Vol.29, Iss.4, 2007-12, pp. : 222-227

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Abstract

We describe Ludorugbya springbokorum, a new genus and species of Pottiaceae from the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa. It is gametophytically distinct in the small plants with ovate-lanceolate to spathulate, redawned, plane-margined leaves that are red in KOH, usually bistratose in 1–2(–4) transverse rows at the insertion, with a differentiated border, and a costa section with a semicircular dorsal stereid band, a dorsal epidermis and a differentiated pad of cells on the ventral surface. The immersed, cupulate to short-cylindric capsules with a very long-conic operculum, very poorly developed peristome, and an evertable annulus are also highly distinctive. Spore dispersal is controlled by the annulus, which when dried is rolled inwards, almost closing the capsule mouth, but everts rapidly on wetting, expanding the rim of the capsule mouth. Spore size is distinctly bimodal within individual capsules and highly variable between capsules. At present L. springbokorum is known only from remnant renosterveld patches in the Swartland region of South Africa, and within this highly transformed landscape the species appears to be rare and under considerable threat.