Commentary on the Genus Glyphothecium (Ptychomniaceae)

Abstract

genus Glyphothecium Hampe (Ptychomniaceae) is treated herein as comprised of three species. Glyphothecium sciuroides (Hook.) Hampe is reported for the first time to occur in the New World, growing sympatrically with G. gracile (Hampe) Broth. in Patagonia. distribution of G. gracile in parts of the world other than southern South America is questioned. Morphological distinctions between G. sciuroides and G. gracile are clarified for the first time. disjunct distribution of G. sciuroides is correlated with the distribution of a known phorophyte, Nothofagus. As presently recognized, Glyphothecium Hampe is one of seven genera of the Pty- chomniaceae (Brotherus 1925). According to Index Muscorum (van der Wijk et al. 1962, 1969), Glyphothecium is comprised of four species. Two of these species, G. sciuroides (Hook.) Hampe (the type species) and G. gracile (Hampe) Broth., are taxonomically and nomenclaturally good species. A third name, G. papillosum Herz. is an error in synonymy for Glyphomitrium papillosum Herz. (van der Wijk et al. 1962, p. 362) of the Ptychomi- triaceae. Glyphothecium pangerangense Fleisch., described from sterile material from Java (Fleischer 1908), is a fourth name; however, it should be considered only a form of the highly polymorphic G. sciuroides, a point which will be established in a subsequent paper. Glyphothecium pendulum Zant. (van Zanten 1964) has been described from the Star Mountains of Dutch New Guinea; this species is not included in Index Muscorum. This brings the total number of species presently recognized in the genus to three. Glyphothecium gracile is restricted to southern South America. Seki (1976) claimed that G. gracile has the same distribution as Hypnodendron microstichum Mitt., i.e. Aus- tralia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Polynesia, the Ryukyu Islands, and the southern part of South America. However, after examining specimens that Seki annotated from Brotherus' herbarium (H-BR), I find, in many cases, he had mistaken G. sciuroides for G. gracile. Moreover, in examining about 500 specimens of Glyphothecium from 16 herbaria, I have found that G. gracile is restricted to southern South America, as is indicated in Index Muscorum and by Sainsbury (1955). I have not had the opportunity to examine the spec- imens Seki alluded to in his 1976 paper. Prior to this study, G. sciuroides has been known to have only an Australasian distri- bution-from South Island, New Zealand, north to Luzon and west to Sri Lanka. Shan- Hsiung Lin (pers. comm.) of Tunghai University, Taiwan, has informed me that this species also occurs in Taiwan. Historically, the separation of G. sciuroides from G. gracile has been a decision based on nonoverlapping distributions, i.e. the two taxa were considered geographic species. According to Sainsbury (1955), The former (G. gracile) is not separable vegetatively from slender forms of G. sciuroides, the New Zealand species ... I found a specimen of G.