Entosthodon muehlenbergii
Common name
Moss, Muhlenberg’s cord-moss
Synonyms
Funaria muehlenbergii Turner
Family
Funariaceae
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, DP
Previous conservation status
2004 | Range Restricted
Distribution
Indigenous. Australia and New Zealand. In New Zealand exact distribution unclear though it has only been recorded from the eastern South Island.
Detailed description
Terricolous, yellowish or green, colonial moss forming diffuse patches on damp earth in deep shade. Stems c.5 mm tall, simple. Leaves 1.5-3.2 mm long, tufted, wrinkled or little altered when dry, somewhat erect to spreading when dry and moist; lamina obovate to widely obovate-spathulate, concave, obtuse or subacute, apiculate; margins plane slightly and bluntly serrate above by projection of the marginal cell-ends; nerve failing below apex. Cells lax, 30-140 microns long and 1.5-5.0 x 1, subquadrate, oblong, or irregularly 4-6-sided; longer and rectangular at the base; marginal cells in the upper part of the leaf in 1-2 rows narrower and often yellowish (forming a more or less distinct border). Seta 5-28 mm long. Capsule 2.5-4.0 mm long, smooth, clavate-pyriform, curved, gibbous, neck well defined (occupying fully 1/2 of capsule length), wide-mouthed, without annulus. Peristome double; the outer of 16 reddish-brown,lanceolate-subulate teeth, somewhat oblique, variably striolate on the dorsal face and trabeculate on the ventral; inner peristome of 16 opposed paler processes, shaped like teeth. Operculum scarcely convex. Calyptra inflated.
Fruiting
Freely produced throughout the year depending on growing conditions
Threats
Appears to be a naturally uncommon, range restricted species.
Substrate
Terricolous on damp, usually bare earth within grey scrub and similar shrubland ecosystems
Fact Sheet Prepared for NZPCN by: P.J. de Lange 31 August 2007.