Goebelobryum vermiculare
Common name
Liverwort
Synonyms
None - first described in 2012 (see Engel & Glenny 2012)
Family
Acrobolbaceae
Flora category
Non-vascular – Native
Endemic taxon
No
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Liverworts
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.
2012 | At Risk – Relict
Distribution
Indigenous: New Zealand (North, South and Chatham Islands. Also Tasmania. In New Zealand mostly recorded from the Waikato, and north-western South Island. Scarce on the Chatham Islands.
Habitat
Terricolous. In New Zealand restricted to lowland acidic bogs - especially those dominated by the restiads Sporadanthus and Empodisima, and heathlands, or on poorly drained, podzolised soils.
Similar taxa
Goebelobryum unguiculatum from which G. vermiculare differs by ‘worm-like’ growth habit, with strongly dorsally assurgent, often darkly red-pigmented (magenta) leaves, whose apices are sparingly incised (or not). Goebelobryum unguiculatum has leaves which are weakly to moderately dorsally assurgent, yellow-green to golden sometimes faintly tinged rose or reddish (never magenta), and whose apices are prominently incised and lobulate
Flowering
Not applicable - produces sporophytes
Fruiting
Sporophytes may be seen throughout the year
Life cycle
Hairy mericarps are dispersed by wind and possibly attachment (Thorsen et al., 2009).
Propagation technique
Difficult - should not be removed from the wild
Threats
Although widespread and mostly common within its chosen habitats, the wetlands this species prefers are now scarce due to past drainage, and in some cases the lack of fires to keep them open. This species, as Goebelobryum aff. unguiculatum (CHR 527492: Charleston) has been assessed as ‘At Risk / Relict’ by Glenny et al. (2011). This assessment is probably still appropriate.
Etymology
vermiculare: From the Latin vermiculus ‘little worm’ and -aris ‘resembling’, meaning worm-shaped, i.e. thick and almost cylindrical but bent in different places.
Attribution
Fact Sheet prepared by P.J. de Lange (1 June 2014).
References and further reading
Engel, J.J.; Glenny, D. 2012: Austral Hepaticae 48. Goebelobryum Grolle (Acrobolbaceae). Nova Hedwigia 95: 319-336.
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.
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 11: 285-309
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Goebelobryum vermiculare Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/goebelobryum-vermiculare/ (Date website was queried)