Tortella cirrhata
Common name
Moss
Synonyms
Tortella mooreae Sainsbury, Trichostomum eckelianum R.H. Zander
Family
Pottiaceae
Flora category
Non-vascular – Native
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
Distribution
Indigenous. Known in New Zealand from Te Paki (North Cape), the Hauraki Gulf Islands (Poor Knights, Mokohinau, Rangitoto), Hauturu (Clark Island near Whangamata) and Western Reef on the Chatham Islands.
Detailed description
Dioicous (rarely autoicous) compact, densely tufted moss of exposed coastal rock platforms and associated compact soil. Plants bright yellow-green above, brown below. Stems 6-8 mm tall, simply or sparingly branched. Leaves 2.0-2.5 mm long, crowded, crisped when dry, erect to spreading when moist; lamina lanceolate or lanceolate-subulate, acute, concave below, with margins incurved or convolute, finely crenulate and with projecting cells in the subula. Nerve strong about 70 microns wide, narrowing and indistinct near base, excurrent, apex acute, rigid. Upper cells 8-10 microns isodiametrical, incrassate, rounded or subquadrate, smooth or faintly papillose; those above the small basal group slightly longer, shortly rectangular with rounded angles; those of the basal group itself thin-walled, hyaline, widely rectangular, 3-4 x 1, extending obliquely slightly higher up the margin. Perichaetial bracts not differentiated. Seta 10-18 mm long, slender, red to red-brown (especially toward base). Capsule 1.5-2.0 mm long, narrowly-cylindrical, pale-brown, with a reddish mouth. Annulus absent. Peristome teeth 16, inserted under the rim, short, 0.38 mm tall, nearly straight. divided to the base into two filiform, papillose. reddish-brown, obscurely nodulose segments. Operculum conico-rostrate, erect, about one-third the length of the capsule, with two cell-rows vertical, not oblique.
Fruiting
October - December (may be present throughout the year)
Threats
An apparently naturally uncommon species whose range may have contracted in the past through loss of habitat and nutrients caused by declining sea bird and seal numbers. In its few known locations it is reasonably common and apparently secure. Its recent (2007, 2009, 2010) recognition from North Cape (Te Paki - November 2010), Western Reef (where it was collected in January 2006 - see de Lange & Sawyer 2008) and Hauturu (Clark Island, near Whangamata December 2009) suggests it is more widespread than had once been believed.
Substrate
Basalt, Rhyolite, Schist rock and associated soil. Often found growing within the splash zone, and usually in sites richly manured by sea birds and seals.
Attribution
Fact Sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange 5 November 2007. Description from Sainsbury (1955) - as Tortella mooreae.
References and further reading
de Lange, P.J.; Sawyer, J.W.D. 2008: Flora of Western Reef, Chatham Islands. New Zealand Journal of Botany 46: 425-431.
Sainsbury, G.O.K. 1955 A Handbook of the New Zealand Mosses. Royal Society of New Zealand Bulletin 5: 1–490.
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Tortella cirrhata Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/tortella-cirrhata/ (Date website was queried)