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Bryophytespecialissue Studies on Victorian bryophytes 4. The genus Fabronia Raddi David Meagher SchoolofBotany,TheUniversityofMelbourne,Victoria3010 Abstract Fabroniaaustralis Hook,istheonlyspeciesofthemossgenusFabroniainVictoria. Thisspecies is described, itsdistribution in Victoria is delineated, and its conservation status isassessed. Victorian recordsofF. IiampeanaSond.arerejected.(The VictorianNaturalist 123(4),2006,212-215) Introduction Fabronia Raddi is the nominate genus of 50-80 pm in diameter. Capsule hemi- the family Fabroniaceae. Six species of spherical to conical, up to about 1.0 mm Fabronia have been reported from long; operculum flat, with a small apiculus Australia, and another has been reported in thecentre; peristome single, fragile, pale from New Guinea. Fabronia australis yellow to pale brown, strongly recurved Hook, has been reported from all states when dry. of 16 paired teeth, strongly stri- and territories except the Northern ate-papillose, the striations oriented in var- Territory (Streimann and Klazenga 2002), ious directions (Fig. lb). Spores brown to and from New Zealand (Beever et al. greenish brown, 12-20 pm in diameter, 1996). Fabroniahampeana Sond. hasbeen warty-papillose. Perichaetial leaves reported from Western Australia, Victoria (bracts) similartothevegetative leaves but and New South Wales (Scott and Stone slightly largerand colourless. 1976, Streimannand Klazenga2002). Habitat:ondry,shadedsoil inrock crevices and on ledges and cliffs, and on the bark of Description Fabronia australis Hook., Musci Exotica tKrneeoswannddciysctardisbuitnisocnl:erWopAh,yllSAfo,resVti.c, Tas, 2: 160(1819) NSW, ACT, Qld; also in NZ. In Victoria, Plants delicate, usually rather silky, pale occurs in awideband acrossthe state (Fig. to dark green, with short branches arising 2), mainly in drysclerophyll forest. from a creeping leafy stem anchored tothe Selected Victorian specimens: MELU substratum by rhizoids. Rhizoids in fasci- 7402 Whitfield, Mar 1970; MUCV 1960 cles, arising from the primary stem and Billy Goat Bend, Mitchell River, Apr branches, reddish brown, smooth. Leaves 1973; MUCV 2537 Natural Bridge, Mt nmamrrowly to widely ovate, up to 1.1 x 0.4 EcclesNP, Oct 1974. on the stems, slightly smaller on branches, flat to slightly concave, weakly Similartava spreading from the stem and mostly turned Once the marginal cilia are noted the to the dorsal side ofthe stem, apex ciliate genus is obvious, and then only the with a long terminal cell, margins usually species is in question. In New Zealand, strongly dentate or ciliate but sometimes Catharomnionvitiation(Hedw.) Wils. also entire (Fig. la and d). Costa weak, single, has ciliate margins, but it is a larger ending at or above mid-leaf. Cells in mid species with rather flattened shoots and to upperleafthick-walled,± rhomboid and grows onlyon bark, and ihe leaves usually often slightly sigmoid, becoming rectangu- have a distinct margin of elongate cells lar towards the leaf base, extremely vari- (Beever et al. 1996). Ischryodon lepturus able in size. 30-190 x 8-12 pm but mostly Brachythecium albicans and Hypnum, of a similar size in each plant; alar cells cupress(forme var. mossmanianum have a quadrate, typically in about four rows but similar overall appearance to Fabronia often many more and reaching a long way australis but lack marginal teeth or cilia. alongthemargin andalmosttothecosta. Othertaxa that have been mistaken for F. Dioecious. Sporophytes on specialised australis in Australian collections are branches at base ofcurrent year’s growth; Brachythecium rutabulum and Hypnum mm seta straw-coloured, about 5 long and cupressiformevar.cupress(forme. 212 The Victorian Naturalist 1 Bryophytespecialissue Discussion urbanisation. For example, its only known All specimens ofFabronia from Victoria present-day locality close to Melbourne is seen in this study are referable to Fabronia in themoreorless undisturbed environment australis. Itisawidespreadspeciesbutdoes ofWarrandyteState Park. not seem to tolerate very dry or very wet There is a great deal ofconfusion about environments. Most records are from dry other Australian 'species’, and a thorough sclerophyll forestordry, rocky grassland or review is needed. Specimens in MEL woodland. Under the current IUCN criteria named F. baileyana Miill. Hal. seem to be (Hallingbecketa!. 2000), F. australis must a form of F. australis with a long hair- be classified as ‘least concern’ (LC) in point. In F. brachyphylla Miill. Hal., Victoria and Australia, because it occurs in reported from New South Wales, the ACT many widespread localities, including and Queensland, the leaf apex is usually numerous conservation reserves. It appears acuminate, without a hairpoint or elongat- to have declined slightly as a result of ed apical cell, and the leaf margins are Fig. 1.. Fabroniaaustralis, a. Leaves: three typical on left, twoatypical on right, b. Peristome tooth, tcmS.twmooC.nreeoans6-tsic2-r9sed6er,clateEwaisvonpensef,rorafdonrmcsaetGwe,mnA.WfMAFraobS(mcrMoGotUntAiCasMV.nh.S.a1c6mAo3ptl1te)ua.sm.nna.C,lidMf.ifslT,lyspntiercaearalmLlaFeuaanlfl.cse,SsctQaollnde,(bTaMarsEs:mLaaUn,id1a6=0(6)M0..U5dCmdVmra,7w01nb),,fcreox=mce01.pGt Vol. 123 (4) 2006 213 Bryophytespecialissue Fig. 2. Known distribution ofFabronia australis in Victoria. Open circles indicate records more than 50yearsold. entire or weakly toothed. But whether appearance when dry because ofthe more these characters are enough to separate F. ciliate and narrower leaves (Fig. Id), but dboruabcthfyuplh.ylSlpaecfirmoemnsF.inauMstErLaligsivisenvetrhye Fwuhretnhemromiosrte,itsloomoeksnasirmriolwa-rletoavFe.daaunstdravleirsy. names F. novaevalesiae Mull. Hal, and F. ciliate forms ofF. australis (e.g. MUCV obtusoacuminata Mull. Hal. (both invalid 1614, from Cambewarra Mountain in names because they were published with- NSW) can closely resemble F. hampeana. out a Latin diagnosis) seem to be identical In such cases, sporophytes arc the best to F. brachyphylla. Scott and Stone (1976) means ofseparation. The operculum in F. noted that F. brachyphylla has broad, hampeana is rounded-conical and the seta obtuse leaves on most shoots, and that F. is rather shorter (2 mm) and thicker (up to scoltiae Mull. Hal. has acuminate leaves 100-115 pm). Other differences, such as (i.e. lackinga ciliatehaiipoint). Such a dif- cell size and strength ofthe costa, seem ference hardly seems enough to warrant weak characters given their variability in separation as species, given thegreat varia- F. australis. Ofthe numerous specimens tion seen in leafform thatoccurs in F. aus- called F hampeana from various regions tralis. Furthermore, Scott and Stone(1976) of Australia in MEL and MELU, only suggested that F. australis might be a those from Western Australia are that form of F. ciliaris (Brid.) Brid., a wide- species, so that it seems indeed to be spreadspeciesofthenorthernhemisphere. endemic to that state. F. australis also The entire margins in a small number of occurs in Western Australia, but seems to specimens ofF. australis could cause con- berarethere. fusion, but when capsules are present the The only other species recorded in unusual pattern ofstriations on the peris- Australasia is F. curvirostris Dozy and tome teeth is diagnostic. Scott and Stone Molk., an Asian species reported from (1976) described the seta as about 80 pm New Guinea by Norris and Koponen in diameter and the spores as green and (1990), who also rejected a record of F. about 12 pm in diameter, but specimens secunda Mont, from there. F. curvirostris examined in this studyhave much narrow- differs from other Australasian species in er setae and spores are greenish-brown having papillae on at least some teeth and whenmature and upto20 pm in diameter. ontheapical cell. Fabronia hampeana has a very woolly 214 The Victorian Naturalist ) . Bryophytespecialissue Acknowledgements bryophytes. In Mosses, Liverworts andHornworts. Thanks to the curators ofbryophytes at the Status Surveyand Conservation Action Planfor Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra Bryophytes F.ds Hallingbeck T and Hodgetts N (CANB), National Herbarium ofVictoria, (IUCN/SSC Bryophyte Specialist Group. IUCN: MNeelwboSuorunteh W(aMlEeLs,)Saynddnetyhe(SNtSatWe)Hfeorrbparroivuimdinogf NoGtrhlreiasnMdD,uloSlnwiatPnzedenriKlnoasnpudlo)an,enPaTpu(a19N90e)wBGruyionpehay.teXfXlXoIra11o.f specimens and data. Thanks also to Dr Pina LeskcaeeaeandFabroniaecae(Musci)pluscorrigen- Milne for organising material at MEL, and Nic daandaddenda10previouspapers.Ann. Bot.Fennici iMsiidndgleltooannsaannddKpartohvyidVionhgsla(bMoEraLtUor)yffoarciolrigtiaens-. Sc2o7t,!1G1A2.M and Stone IG (1976) The Mosses of Finally, many thanks to the anonymous referee SouthernAustralia.(AcademicPress:London) who provided several sensible criticisms ofthe SlAruesitmraalninan11MoasnsdesK.la(AzuesntgraaliNan(B2i0o0l2o)gicCaaltaRleosoguureceosf firstdraftofthispaper. Study:Canberra) References BeoefveNreJw,AZlleiasloannKd..W(aUnndivCehrislidtJy(o19f96O)taTghoeMPorsessess, Received/6February2005;accepted8June2006 Dunedin) Hallingbeck T, Hodgetts N, Raeymaekers G, SchumackerG. Sergio R, Soderstrom L, Stewart N andVanaJ. (2000)Guidelines forapplicationofthe 1994 1UCN Red List categories of threats to Melbourne’s Marvellous Mosses Helen Jolley NationalHerbariumofVictoria,RoyalBotanicGardensMelbourne, BirdwoodAvenue,SouthYarra,Victoria3141 Abstract The State Botanical Collection in the National Herbarium ofVictoria (MEL) includes more than 49,000mosses, MF.L’s Australianmosscollection hasbeendatabasedandcuratedandcontainsrep- resentatives ofall Victoriantaxa and 76% ofAustralian laxa. A timelineofMEL’s Australian moss collections showsthatduringthe 1940s-80s, the collection has benefited from theactivitiesofthree significantcollectors JH Willis,ACBeaugleholcand IGStone. Australia’sVirtual Herbariumpro- ject provides access to MEL’s moss data via the Royal Botanic Gardens website. (The Victorian Naturalist123,(4),2006,215-221 MEL’s moss collection The National Herbarium of Victoria Table 1. Number ofAustralian moss taxa per (MEL) houses the State Botanical bsteartere(pSrterseeinmteadnnataMndELK.lazenga 2002) and num- Collection which comprises approximately 1.2 million plant specimens including %oftaxa more than 49,000 mosses. There are cur- MEL represented rently 43,557 Australian moss specimens, #Taxa coll'ns atMEL with 44% ofthese from Victoria. There are WA more than 5,500 moss specimens collected 209 177 84.6 from outside Australia, the majority of NT 111 726 4.9 which are yet to be accessioned and curat- SA 189 140 74.1 Zede.alNanudm,ertohuesscuobl-lAencttairocntsicfroImslaNnedsw, QLD 522 444 85.1 NSW Indonesia and Canada have been curated 537 399 74.3 and databased. LHI 113 80 70.8 The diversity ofthe Australian moss col- ACT 199 93 46.7 lections at MEL may be investigated, as they have been databased. When compar- Vic 447 447 100.0 ingthetaxaknown from Australiawith the Tas 383 255 66.6 taxa represented at MEL (Table 1), as one MI 85 42 49.4 mightexpect MEL has the bestrepresenta- Australia 1035 798 77.1 Vol. 123 (4) 2006 215