Pterygoneurum lamellatum, a Moss New to Greenland (Musci, Pottiaceae)

Abstract

Pterygoneurum lamellatum (Lindb.) Jur. is reported new to the Greenland bryoflora based on two finds from west central Greenland. The specimens were found 350 km apart, both on frost boils of clay on raised marine sediments of Holocene age. These findings support the thesis that openland has existed in West Greenland during one or more glaciations. While preparing for the 1996 field season in Greenland we came across a specimen from the vicinity of Sendrestr0mfjord, central West Greenland initially named Stegonia latifolia Vent. Closer examination revealed this specimen to belong to Pterygoneurum lamellatum that had no previous record from Greenland. This specimen was collected in 1977 between the mountain Keglen and 7 km to the northwest, in the area located north of Sendrestr0mfjord Airport, at the Polar Circle, inland, and about 25 km from the Inland Ice Cap in an continental climatic regime. The specimen consists of a few plants with well developed sporophytes. The habitat is open clay on a frost boil located on raised marine sediments of Holocene age. On July 11, 1996, two of us found a second population, also consisting of few mature sporophytes and some sterile gametophytes. This population occurred 350 km to the north just outside the airport of Jakobshavn/Illulisat at 70014'N, 51001'W (Fig. 1). Geographically, Pterygoneurum lamellatum has its main distribution outside the Arctic, being a predominantly steppe and warm semi-desert species. Its discovery in the Nearctic is of fairly recent date. Steere (1959) reported this species from arctic Alaska, as P. arcticum Steere, which he subsequently synonymized with P. lamellatum (Steere 1976, 1978). Kuc (1973) reported three sites of P. lamellatum (also as P. arcticum) from the Queen Elisabeth Islands, and Brassard (1976) reported it from Alert, Ellesmere Island. Miller and Ireland (1978) reported Pterygoneurum ovatum (Hedw.) Dix. from Bathurst Island. Our plants from Greenland matches well with the description of P. arcticum given by Steere (1959), although we have not seen the type specimen. We have seen the specimen (FH) collected by Miller on Bathurst Island but we are hesitant to refer these plants to either P. lamellatum or P. ovatum due to variations in spore sizes. While spores of P. lamellatum vary between 14-22 ptm, and spores of P. ovatum are 20-27 ptm (Fig. 2), spores of the Bathurst Island plants fall within 20-31 Im. Actual varia ion in spore size range as shown by a large number of measurements may, however, be larger than wh n measurements are expressed as simple ranges. We feel certain about the taxonomic placement of our own two specimens from Greenland as P. lamellatum, but we find that a detailed taxonom-