Abstract
Two American species of moss, <em>Ephemerum homomallum </em>Müll. Hal. (Pottiaceae) and <em>Torrentaria</em><em> </em><em>aquatica </em>(A. Jaeger) Ochyra (Brachytheciaceae), are reported as new to Africa, based on collections from the Limpopo and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa, respectively. These discoveries changed the phytogeographical status of both species, which now belong to the Afro-American distribution element. Global geographical ranges of these two species are reviewed and mapped, and the amphiatlantic distribution pattern of mosses is briefly summarized. A history of the muscological exploration of southern Africa is briefly considered and recent additions to the moss flora of this area are reviewed.
Highlights
Research on the moss flora in the vast expanse of mainland sub-Saharan Africa began relatively late, only in the second half of the nineteenth century, with the progressive exploration and discovery of areas unknown to Europeans (Büttner, 1889, pp. 67–68; Mitten, 1860, 1863, 1886; Müller, 1875, 1876, 1879, 1888a, 1890, 1893)
As the taxonomy of African and Neotropical bryophytes has become better known and the exploration of understudied areas has progressed, more species are increasingly found to occur on both continents
These are mostly lowland and montane tropical mosses (e.g., Arts, 1998; Bednarek-Ochyra et al, 1999; Buck & Griffin, 1984; Ellis et al, 2013, 2014, 2016; Ochyra et al, 1992; Ochyra & Ireland, 2016; Orbán, 2000; Porley & Edwards, 2010; Shaw et al, 2008). This type of distribution is exhibited by a small group of austral cool-adapted mosses, which occur in the temperate regions of southern South America and extend to southern Africa and African islands in the Southern Ocean, or both (e.g., Bednarek-Ochyra, 2014; Bednarek-Ochyra et al, 1996; Bednarek-Ochyra & Ochyra, 1998, 2012a, 2012b; Blockeel et al, 2009, 2010; Li et al, 2009; Ochyra, 2010; Ochyra & Bednarek-Ochyra, 2013; Ochyra, Bednarek-Ochyra, & Lewis Smith, 2002; Ochyra & Bell, 1984; Ochyra & Lewis Smith, 1998; Ochyra, Lewis Smith, & Bednarek-Ochyra, 2008; Ochyra & Lightowlers, 1988)
Summary
Research on the moss flora in the vast expanse of mainland sub-Saharan Africa began relatively late, only in the second half of the nineteenth century, with the progressive exploration and discovery of areas unknown to Europeans (Büttner, 1889, pp. 67–68; Mitten, 1860, 1863, 1886; Müller, 1875, 1876, 1879, 1888a, 1890, 1893). They were examined by Müller (1888b, 1899) who described many specimens as new species This period in the history of bryological studies in southern Africa was summarized by Sim (1926) in his bryophyte flora of this region, in which he recognized 490 species of moss. After another 53 years, a newly updated checklist of the mosses of southern Africa, comprising the countries of South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, eSwatini, and Lesotho, was published, covering 591 species (Magill & Schelpe, 1979). In the most recent checklist of southern African mosses, 546 species and nine infraspecific taxa have been recorded from the region (Van Rooy, 2003)
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