Orthotrichum aucklandicum
Common name
Moss
Synonyms
Muelleriella aucklandica Vitt
Family
Orthotrichaceae
Flora category
Non-vascular – Native
Endemic taxon
Yes
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 | Range Restricted | Qualifiers: OL
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand: Auckland Islands, Auckland Island only.
Detailed description
Plants in small, blackish cushions, the tips often yellow-green to light-green. Stems erect, mostly 2-4× branched, rarely simple or once branched, c.3-12 mm high. Leaves loosely-erect and twisted, sometimes incurved when dry, loosely-erect and straight to erect-spreading when moist, 2.8-3.9 mm long, tri- or bistratose above, ligulate-lanceolate to narrowly ligulate from an ovate base, obtuse or sometimes acute; margins plane, often tristratose or quadristratose; costa ending just below the apex, in cross-section consisting of uniform stereids with no guide cells, in the upper portion of the leaf usually covered on the ventral side with larger cells, on the dorsal side usually not covered by lamina cells or if covered these often partially stereid in appearance; upper cells irregularly rounded to irregularly hexagonal, smooth; basal cells rectangular to elongate-rectangular, slightly nodose to costa, shorter towards margins. Autoicous, Perigonia often at ends of separate branches. Setae 0.5-1.1 mm long; capsules 0.8-1.2 mm long, ± 0.7 mm wide, oblong when dry, ovate to ovate-oblong when wet, gradually narrowed to the seta, immersed, the mouth positioned within the upper 2/3 of the leaf, usually constricted beneath the mouth when old and dry, smooth; exothecial cells rectangular, extremely thick-walled on the tangential side; stomates immersed in the lower ½ of the capsule; subsidiary cells strongly differentiated and completely covering the stomates; Peristome diplolepideous, single; exostome teeth 16, papillose, spreading-recurved when dry; endostome segments none; preperistome well-developed, sometimes up to ½ length of the exostome. Calyptrae conic, mitrate, strongly plicate, naked or with 1-2 multicellular hairs, with small papillae near apex. Spores multicellular, 40-70 µm, irregularly spherical to cubic-rectangular.
Fruiting
Fruits have been observed in December
Threats
Not Threatened. Listed because it is a local endemic confined to the Auckland Islands.
Substrate
Saxicolous on cliff faces and rock ledges between 25 m and 365 m above sea level. Unlike other species in the genus M. aucklandica avoids sites subjected to salt spray.
Attribution
Fact Sheet Prepared for NZPCN by: P.J. de Lange (5 October 2007). Description adapted from Vitt (1976 - as Muelleriella)
References and further reading
Goffinet, B.; Shaw, A.J.; Cox, C.J.; Wickett, N.J.; Boles, S.B.. 2004: Phylogenetic inferences in the Orthotrichoideae (Orthotrichaceae, Bryophyta) based on variation in four loci from all genomes. In: Molecular Systematics of bryophytes. 98 ed. Phylogenetic inferences in the Orthotrichoideae (Orthotrichaceae, Bryophyta) based on variation in four loci from all genomes 270-289.
Vitt, D. H. 1976. A monograph of the genus Muelleriella Dusén. Journal of the Hattori Botanical Laboratory 40: 91-113.
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Orthotrichum aucklandicum Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/orthotrichum-aucklandicum/ (Date website was queried)