Aloina bifrons
Common name
moss
Synonyms
Aloina sullivaniana (Müll.Hal.) Broth.
Family
Pottiaceae
Flora category
Non-vascular – Native
Endemic taxon
No
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Mosses
Current conservation status
- Conservation status of New Zealand mosses, 2014 (PDF, 583.87 kB)
The conservation status of 109 New Zealand moss taxa was assessed using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS). Four taxa and one undescribed entity that were not included in previous assessments have been added to the list. The conservation status of only two taxa has changed in this assessment. A full list is presented, along with a statistical summary and brief notes on the changes. This list replaces all previous NZTCS lists for mosses. Authors: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Allan J. Fife, Jessica E. Beever, Patrick J. Brownsey and Rodney A. Hitchmough.
- Conservation status of New Zealand hornworts and liverworts, 2014 (PDF, 695.44 kB)
The conservation status of the New Zealand hornwort and liverwort flora is reassessed using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS). A full list is presented, along with a statistical summary and brief notes on the most important changes. This list replaces all previous NZTCS lists for New Zealand hornworts and liverworts which previously had been part of a generic bryophyte conservation status assessment that included mosses. Authors: Peter J. de Lange, David Glenny, John Braggins, Matt Renner, Matt von Konrat, John Engel, Catherine Reeb and Jeremy Rolfe.
Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2009 | Non-resident Native – Vagrant | Qualifiers: SO, OL
Previous conservation status
2004 | Range Restricted
Distribution
Indigenous. New Zealand: Hawke’s Bay. Also Europe (Mediterranean). North America, South Africa and Australia (Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales)
Habitat
Lowland areas. Terricolous on open clay pans and sparsely vegetated surfaces
Detailed description
Minute, loosely tufted moss forming diffuse patches on limestone rock. Stems thick, up to 2 mm tall, stout, comose. Leaves c.2 mm long, imbricated and incurved when dry, spreading when moist, thick, fleshy more or less succulent; lamina broadly elliptic, base sheathing, distinctly concave, margins widely involute from close to base, hooded and subacute at apex. Nerve very broad, flat and indistinct, excurrent, finely cuspidate in the lower leaves, and as a long, smooth, hyaline arista in the upper ones. Ventral surface of the nerve and lamina, excluding the involute margins and the short base, entirely covered by a dense mat of filaments which conceal the areolation in that part of the ventral surface of the lamina. Upper cells c.15 microns, subisodiametrical, irregularly angled, smooth, strongly incrassate, narrowly transversely elliptic towards the margin. Cells below larger, subquadrate, pellucid, with thinner walls which are sometimes collenchymatously thickened at the angles. Marginal cells below somewhat transversely lengthened. Seta to 14 mm long, flexuose. Capsule 3.0-3.5 mm long, brown, erect, cylindrical, with the base slightly broadened. Peristome teeth 32, arising from a low basal cylinder. spirally twisted to the left. Operculum narrowly conical, suberect, about 1/3 the length of the capsule.
Fruiting
Although fruit has been seen insufficient information exists to provide any details on the timing of fruiting
Threats
Known in New Zealand from only a few small populations which do not appear to be under any threat. The current distribution and ecology of this species suggests that it is a reasonably recent arrival to New Zealand which is why it has been listed as a “vagrant” (see Glenny et al. 2011).
Substrate
Saxicolous and calcicolous - on limestone rock
Attribution
Fact Sheet Prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange 1 November 2007. Description adapted from Catcheside (1980) and Sainsbury (1955).
References and further reading
Catcheside, D.G. 1980: Mosses of South Australia. Government Printer, South Australia
Glenny, D.; Fife, A.J.; Brownsey, P.J.; Renner, M.A.M.; Braggins, J.E.; Beever, J.E.; Hitchmough, R. 2011: Threatened and uncommon bryophytes of New Zealand (2010 Revision). New Zealand Journal of Botany 49: 305-327.
Sainsbury, G.O.K. 1955: A handbook of the New Zealand Mosses. Wellington. Royal Society of New Zealand.
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Aloina bifrons Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/aloina-bifrons/ (Date website was queried)