Campylopus extinctus n. sp. (Musci, Dicranaceae), an Apparently Extinct Species from Brazil

Abstract

Campylopus extinctus J.-P. Frahm spec. nov. is described from Brazil on the basis of a collection kept in the herbarium of the University of Gottingen, taken from the stem of a tree fern cultivated in the greenhouse of the Botanical Garden of Gottingen. The tree fern was introduced from Santa Catarina, Brazil in 1904. The species of Campylopus is known only from this collection and to date has not been collected in the wild. For this reason the species is thought to be extinct in the wild. Several years ago I received from Dr. Uwe Drehwald a large specimen of Campylopus for identification. The material was kept in the herbarium of the Institute of Systematic Botany and Phytogeography of the University of G6ttingen, Germany. According to the label, the specimen was collected in 1906 from the stem of a tree fern introduced from Sta. Catarina, Brazil, by K. Grossmann, and cultivated in the Botanical Garden of Gottingen. The label was undersigned with Q., indicating that it was written by Ferdinand Quelle (18761963), who studied in Gottingen, and from where he earned a Ph.D. (Frahm 1995). From 1904-1906, Quelle was assistant in the Botanical Garden in Gottingen; a position held when he collected the Campylopus specimen. Between 1900 and 1918, he published twelve bryological papers. His bryophyte herbarium is also in Gottingen (GOET). The collection comprises two specimens. The species, however, was not known to me, although the Brazilian species of Campylopus have been treated (Frahm 1979). Species known from other parts of the neotropics were also excluded since the Campylopus flora of the Neotropics has been treated in several papers, culminating in the Flora Neotropica Monograph (Frahm 1991). Also even on a worldwide perspective no species was known to which this specimen could be attributed. Recently, I restudied this specimen and came the conclusion that it must represent an undescribed species, although the species has never been collected in the field. Furthermore, the description of a possibly extinct species will draw attention to the current extinction of tropical species in general. CAMPYLOPUS EXTINCTUS J.-P. Frahm spec. nov. (FIG. 1-8) Plantae ad 12 mm longae, foliis 4-7 mm longis, lanceolatis. Costa tertiam partem folii occupante, in sectione transversali cellulis ventralibus magnis, inanis, dorsalibus stereidibus, excurrente in apicem longam serratam. Lamina brevis, V3-6 folii occupante, cellulis alaribus inflatis, tenuibus, cellulis basilaribus incrassatis, subquadratis, ad marginem minoribus, cellulis superioribus rectangularibus, incrassatis. TYPE: BRAZIL. auf Baumfarnstamm cult. im Bot. Garten Gottingen. Sta. Catharina leg. K. Grossmann 1904, eingelegt Februar 1906. (GOET, holotype). Plants up to 12 mm long, yellowish in the herbarium specimen, older plants with a reddish tinge. Juvenile plants in low rosettes in loose low mats, the leaves patent and interwoven, older plants with erect indistinctly interrupted comose foliate stems. Leaves narrowly lanceolate, 4 mm long, the comal leaves up to 7 mm long, ending in a long slender leaf tip, serrate in uppermost part. Comal leaves suddenly contracted from broad base into an acumen 5-6 times longer than the leaf base, normal leaves narrowed gradually from leaf base into an acumen 2-3 times longer than leaf base. Costa filling one-third of the leaf base, excurrent, in transverse section with ventral hyalocysts and dorsal stereids, smooth at back. Alar cells large, inflated, thin-walled, hyaline or reddish. Lamina short, extending only /3 to '5 of leaf length. Basal laminal cells incrassate, subquadrate, 1-2:1, 12-20 x 5-10 pim, upper laminal cells incrassate, short rectangular, 3-7 X 10-15 pim. Sporophyte not known. FIGURES 1-8. Campylopus extinctus J.-P. Frahm sp. nov. 1. Juvenile, unproliferated plant, orig. size 6 mm. 2. Proliferated plant, orig. size 12 mm. 3. Stem leaf, orig. length 4 mm. 4. Comal leaf, orig. length 7 mm. 5. Basal laminal cells. 6. Upper laminal cells. 7. Laminal cells in leaf apex. 8. Transverse section of costa. Scale = 50 pm. From type specimen. 0007-2745/96/218-220$0.00/0 This content downloaded from 207.46.13.128 on Tue, 06 Sep 2016 05:19:31 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 1996] FRAHM: CAMPYLOPUS EXTINCTUS N. SP. 219