Mosses of Morobe District, Northeast New Guinea

Abstract

Little by little the moss flora of New Guinea is being pieced out but the area is so large and inaccessible and the flora so astonishingly rich that it may be many years before any adequate idea of its extent and affinities can be determined. Mrs. Clemens' collections from the Morobe District in the extreme eastern corner of Northeast New Guinea open up an entirely new region and very naturally contain many new and surprising additions to the island flora. At the higher subalpine levels the occurrence of such austral species as Distichium capillaceum, Dicranoloma Billardieri, Triquetrella papillata, Rhizogonium distichum, Zygodon sulcatus, Ulota angusti-limbata and Drepanocladus fluitans emphasize again the close connection between the alpine mosses of New Guinea and those of Australia and New Zealand. On the other hand a significantly large group of species found on the lower slopes are typical of the regions to the north and west indicating that to some extent this flora has had its origin in the opposite direction. Mrs. Clemens' collections represent a total of 116 species in which 68, or more than half, are known from the East Indies and the Philippines. Speculation is rather useless in the absence of more conclusive data but it is not illogical to suppose that the moss flora of the northeast coast has been derived to a large extent from the regions to the west and northwest. I am indebted to the University of Michigan for the privilege of studying this important collection and a full series of specimens including the co-types of the new species has been deposited in their herbarium while a duplicate set is in the herbarium of the author.