Frullania toropuku
Common name
Liverwort
Synonyms
None. First described in 2013
Family
Frullaniaceae
Flora category
Non-vascular – Native
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
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.
2013 | Data Deficient
Brief description
Minute reddish-brown, monoicous foliose liverwort; perianth plicate, 3 major keels + 2–3 supplementary keels, the perianth surface conspicuously ornamented, bullate; the first branch leaf (BL1) of a Frullania-type branch often reduced in size and atypical of the normal stem leaves, with all three segments explanate or at most sulcate, and leaves characteristic of the main stem not developing until either BL2, BL3 or BL4
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand: North and Stewart Islands - known from North Cape (Surville Cliffs), Little Barrier Island, Table Mountain, and from Stewart Island (Paterson Inlet)
Habitat
Variably - has been collected from serpentinite rock and associated saprolite in a small forest remnant; also from the trunks of trees in cloud forest, and from tree trunks in coastal forest.
Flowering
Not Applicable - species reproduces by spores
Fruiting
Unknown - the four collections are all fruiting and these were made between October and February
Life cycle
Capsules are water and possibly also wind dispersed (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Threats
Probably not threatened, and probably will prove to be a naturally uncommon, biologicallly sparse species. However, at this stage there is insufficient information to make adefinitive assessment, and this is why Frullania toropuku is listed as ‘Data Deficient’. Frullania toropuku is part of the F. rostrata complex, it is minute, and very hard to recognise in the field - this makes surveying for it difficult, and os it may well be that determining an accurate conservation status will prove impractical.
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange 29 January 2013. Description adapted from von Konrat et al. (2013).
References and further reading
Von Konrat, M.; de Lange, P.; Larraín, J.; Hentschel, J.; Carter, B.; Shaw, J.; Shaw, B. 2013. A small world: uncovering hidden diversity in Frullania – a new species from Aotearoa-New Zealand. Polish Journal of Botany 58: 437–447. DOI: 10.2478/pbj-2013-0056
Thorsen, M. J.; Dickinson, K. J. M.; Seddon, P. J. 2009. Seed dispersal systems in the New Zealand flora. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 2009 Vol. 11 No. 4 pp. 285-309
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Frullania toropuku Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/frullania-toropuku/ (Date website was queried)