Hepaticae of Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Abstract

Thirteen families, 19 genera, 19 species, 6 subspecies, 12 varieties and one forma of hepaticae are reported from Rocky Mountain National Park, north-central Colorado. Lepidozia reptans (L.) Dum., Lophozia obtusa (Lindb.) Evans, L. opacifolia Culm., L. ventricosa var. silvicola (Buch) Jones, Marsupella sphacelata fo. media (Gieseke) Schust. and Riccardia multifida (L.) S. Gray var. multifida are reported new to Colorado. Rocky Mountain National Park is located in the Front Range (which is dominated by Precambrian rocks) of the Rocky Mountains at the Continental Divide in north-central Colorado, and extends from 40'10'-40'43'N to 105'30'-105'55'W. The park is in Boulder, Larimer and Grand counties. There are more than 100 named peaks above 3048 m ele- vation; the mean elevation at the base of the mountain peaks is ca. 2433 m; and the highest elevation is Longs Peak, at 4344 m, located in the southeastern corner of the park. Although Austin (1874, 1875), Rau (1876) and Evans (1915) early reported many liv- erworts for Colorado, none of their collections were made in this park. Frye and Clark (1937-1947) cited the following seven taxa of hepatics for the park from Kiener's collec- tions that were made mainly in the vicinity of Longs Peak in Boulder County: Lophozia alpestris, L. incisa, L. ventricosa, Scapania curta, S. irrigua, S. undulata and S. undulata var. oakesii. Weber (1963) reported Anthelia juratzkana, Gymnomitrion corallioides and Pellia endiviifolia from the park based on his own collections as well as Kiener's collec- tions. Recently, Hermann (1976) reported Lophozia ascendens and Tritomaria exsecti- formis from the park. I have made extensive collecting trips into the park during the summer of 1978 and 1979, visiting especially Estes Park, Longs Peak Campground, Wild Basin and Grand Lake, and have collected over 400 packets of hepaticae. The eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountain National Park are forested mainly by pon- derosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), lodgepole pine (P. contorta), Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and aspen (Populus tremuloides), while the western slopes of the park have lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), limber pine (P. flexilis), Engelmann spruce (Picea en- gelmannii) and subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa). The hepatic flora of the Rocky Mountain National Park is relatively small in spite of the little disturbance by human activities, but the growth of hepatics west of the Continental Divide (where the mountain slopes gently downward) is significantly greater than east of the Divide. Because of the presence of many waterfalls, streams and lake shores, there is a significant number of exceptionally rich microhabitats. Most of the collections cited below have been collected along trails intersecting many small streams in the subalpine region. The present paper is based upon the previously mentioned literature, upon my own collections and upon specimens (mainly Scapania spp.) borrowed from the herbaria of ALA, CANM, COLO, DUKE, F, MICH, TENN and us. The collection numbers are mine unless otherwise indicated. The nomenclature follows Stotler and Crandall-Stotler (1977). Only 007-2745/80/351-354$0.65/0