New distribution notes on the mosses of Massachusetts

16 Pages·1997·6.7 MB·English

by  J E Anderson

RHODORA,
Vol. 99, No. 900, 352-367, 1997
pp.
NEW
ON
DISTRIBUTION NOTES THE MOSSES OF
MASSACHUSETTS
Jeanne Anderson
E.
New
The
Nature Conservancy, Hampshire
Chapter,
% NH
Beacon
2 Street, Suite Concord, 03301-4447
6,
Sarah
Cooper-Ellis
Harvard Box
Forest, P.O. 68,
MA
Petersham, 01366-0068
Tan
Benito
C.
Department
of Botany, School of Biological Sciences,
National University of Singapore, Singapore 119260
abstract. Eighteen moss new
species to Massachusetts and 194 addi-
>nal county records are reported. The new state records are briefly discussed.
county
records are listed in an appendix. The moss of Massachusetts
flora
1
w
stands 356 and
at species 16
varieties.
Key
Words:
mosses,
Massachusetts, state records, county records
Our
knowledge
moss
of
the of Massachusetts
flora substan-
is
described
tially in three previous papers Judd
(Hilferty 1960;
1980; Mishler and
Miller Welch
1983). In addition, (1960), Ire-
Shaw
land Crum
(1969), and and Anderson
(1981), (1981) pro-
vided
reports for certain Massachusetts Welch
mosses. (1960) de-
and
tailed state county genus
locality data for five taxa of the
&
Fontinalis Hedw.,
F. antipyretica van oregonensis Ren. Card.,
flaccida
(Schimp
Welch
cymbifolia
(Aust.)
Ireland
of Plagiothecium
laetum Schimp. from
B.S.G.
in for the state
Massachusetts
Pohlia andalusica (Hohn.)
Broth. (Berkshire County) and Pohlia
drummondii
(C. Mull.) Andrews. Crum and Anderson (1981)
added
records for Orthotrichum speciosum elegans
var.
Warnst.,
F.filiformis
)
Mull
we
three taxa, are unaware of any
—
Anderson Mosses of Massachusetts 353
1997] et
al.
and Dunwiddie
cality. Finally, Sorrie (199
new
and
state county records for Nantucket.
The
additions to the Massachusetts
are
new
specimens cour
or reported
as
confirmed bv and
the third author
The
Massachusetts.
specimens
the time the collections were made include the following: Jeanne
—
(PWD)
E. Anderson (JEA) and Peter W. Dunwiddie Massachu-
Smith
Sarah
—
lege and Harvard Carol Knapp (CK) Chilmark, Massa-
Forest;
—
(PW)
Glenn Motzkin (GM) and Paul Wilson Harvard
chusetts;
New
(LQ)— Shaw
York; Sally
Forest; Lois Quillinan Glenville,
—
—
Nancy (NS)
The Slack Russell
(SS) Nature Conservancy;
—
(SAW) Rowe, Massachusetts;
Sage College; Susan A. Williams
Farlow
(BCT)
Tan
Herbarium. Harvard
Massachusetts
predominantly of tem-
and
16 consists
Overall, the flora
varieties.
and
of circumboreal
representation
perate species, with limited
on check-
polar/alpine species. To date, only six species the state
Dicranum scopar-
(Hedw.) Schimp.,
Dicranella heteromalla
list,
commune
ium Hedw., Hypnum imponens Hedw., Polytrichum
Sphagnum
Hedw., Hedw., and palustre L., are re-
P. piliferum
82 taxa are
ported for every county in the state. In contrast,
known and nearly half the taxa
through only one county record
Not included
known from four or fewer counties.
(ca. 182) are
of
in our count two species introduced through the transport
are
pallida
Callicostella
planting materials and garden practices.
(Schwaegr.)
vesicularis
and Vesicutaria
(Hornsch.) Aongstr.
moss have
American
species,
Broth., both widespread tropical
on of potted plants
been growing the soil
discovered
recently
Massachusetts.
Concord,
within greenhouses
in
mosses
Massachusetts
Our compiled records for
distribution
been thoroughly studied.
moss has not
indicate that the local flora
New mosses such Po-
common England as
For some
example,
reported
Atrichum altecristatum are
and
lytrichum pallidisetum
Massachusetts
the
here In contrast,
as additions to the state flora.
of species
report the
record of Desmatodon plinthobius is the first
N*w northward expan-
north of representing a significant
Tprsfiv.
354 Rhodora
99
[Vol.
One
sion of range in eastern North America. other species,
its
Pseudoleskeella tectorum also reported for the time for
is first
New
England. County Massachusetts best
level distribution in
is
documented Essex
for Berkshire (231 taxa), Bristol (208), (203),
Middlesex Norfolk Worcester Franklin
(206), (190), (185), (157),
Suffolk and Nantucket Counties. The reported moss
(138), (83)
Hampden Hamp-
Dukes
floras of Barnstable (52 taxa), (41), (89),
and Plymouth The
shire (106), (88) Counties are hardly complete.
new
authors are currently preparing a and county checklist
state
that details these records.
A
brief discussion of each of the eighteen record species
state
New
presented below. county records based on published in-
is
formation as an appendix. Each species cited with
is
information
Cram
primarily of Anderson,
that
Buck
Sphagnum Leucodon
(1990). Exceptions include and an-
drewsianus which use Anderson and Reese and Anderson
(1990)
and
(1997) respectively. Descriptions of worldwide species range
Crum
national distribution are taken from and Anderson (1981)
unless otherwise noted.
Atrichum
altecristatu
LYTRICHACEAE)
CK
(Chilmark)
Sagamore
Hill Solar Observatory, Hamilton)
&
RA
SAW
Franklin County (Rowe)
Hampden BCT
County
(Westover Air Force Base, Chicopee)
& RA
BCT
MDC,
Norfolk County
(Blue
Hills Reservation, Milton)
North
In America, this species has a broad range from Sas-
and Kansas
Westover
t
specimen
was
second
collected near Stoney Brook from base of a tree
the
along a path on disturbed ground maple
near a deeply shaded red
The
pilift
Brachythecium (BRACHYTHE-
turgidum
(C. Hartm.) Kindb.
J.
CIACEAE)
—
Anderson Mosses
of Massachusetts
1997] et
al.
Norfolk County
(Hale Reservation, Trustees of Reservations,
BCT
Westwood)
wet
Ireland (1982) described the habitat of species as
this soil
and
rocks near streams, pools, or waterfalls, usually in calcareous
swampy
habitats. Tan found this species in sites on the Hale Res-
New
ervation. This species considered critically imperiled in
is
York
(Clemants and Ketchledge Although ranked
State 1990). as
known
from
apparently secure throughout global range,
its it is
New
The
five or fewer sites in York. Massachusetts record ap-
among
pears the most southern locations reported for this species
in the eastern United
States.
Bry
amore
RA
lare
short cylindrical capsules was found along the margin of an aban-
compound Sagamore
doned road of Hill Solar
inside the restricted
nhsprvatnrv Antpnnap Pomnlex town of Hamilton.
in the
*r\c\
greenish
The
Massachusetts
axils.
Crum
and and
Whitehouse
of Smith and (1978)
this species in
A
Anderson widespread species in disturbed sites across
(1981).
Bryum
population of dicho-
the northern hemisphere, the local
was found
tomum, known old publications as B. bicolor,
better in
Bryum argenteum Hedw., Barbula un-
growing
intermixed with
guiculata Hedw. and Ceratodon purpureus (Hedw.) Brid.
(AMBLYSTEGI
Kindb.
Calliergon giganteum (Schimp.)
ACEAE)
Massachu
Sanctuary,
(Mount Wildlife
Everett
JEA
Audubon
Sheffield)
Society,
setts
Franklin
swamp
swamp south end
maple the
Berkshire County and from a red at
The
County.
Franklin
another
taxa,
and vascular
moss
Warnstorfi
state record,
Common
conditions.
circumneutral
of
characteristic
extends as far
species s
northern latitudes, this
356 Rhodora
99
[Vol.
Pennsylvania and Michigan. wide-ranging Europe
as also in
It is
and
across Asia,
&
Desmatodon (POTTIACEAE)
plinthobius Lesq.
Sull. in Sull.
BCT
Middlesex County (Harvard University campus, Cambridge)
This species was collected from a brick wall of a campus build-
ing near the Harvard University Herbaria. Elsewhere, species
this
grows on
concrete or mortared walls, preferring calcareous sub-
common
most
strates in the wild. It is in the southern states of
Crum
eastern North America. and Anderson
(1981) reported the
New
end
northern of range and Con-
as Jersey Pennsylvania.
its
sequently, this collection represents the reported extension of
first
New
the range of
this species into England.
Ditrichum rhynchostegium (DITRICHACEAE)
Kindb.
BCT
Essex County (Sagamore
Hill Solar Observatory, Hamilton)
& RA
This
s
semi-ooen and shrub
tree
communities Crum
wet and Anderson
in areas. (1981) reported
this species as endemic to eastern North America with a range
Nova
from
Scotia to Georgia and west Ohio, Tennessee, and
to
Arkansas.
Fissidens Hedw., (FISSIDENTACEAE)
exilis
BCT
Essex County
(Sagamore
Hill Solar Observatory, Hamilton)
&
RA
mil, fruiting
damp,
semi
This
In
Massachusetts
same
vicinity. Pleuridium primari
ravenelii
is
Massachusetts
Crum
(1981) reported
F. exilis as a rare and local species with a range
Maryland, Michig
and
Pennsylvania
Hamilton
lected matches
in the illustration and description of F.
published by who
exilis Steere (1950), observed and
illus-
first
and
trated the bluntly irregularly serrate margins of vaginant lam-
—
Anderson Mosses
1997] et of Massachusetts 357
al.
inae with an somewhat
intramarginal border from
differentiated
of North American
that specimens. This observation
led to his
New
comment
World
that the populations possibly represent a
species from Old World
distinct the This
F. exilis. is in contrast
modern
to several European (Nyholm Smith
floras 1954; 1978;
Frahm
and Frey 1987) which continue to describe the leaf mar-
gins of vaginant laminae on specimens and
all F. exilis as finely
evenly
serrulate or crenulate.
(LESKEACEAE)
Haplocladium
microphyllum (Hedw.)
Broth.
Berkshire County SC-E
(Florida)
Cooper-Ellis (1994) collected species from a decaying log
this
in an old-growth hardwood forest as part of her graduate research
on
the bryophytes of western Massachusetts old-growth
forests.
This research also generated several county records for sites in
Berkshire and Franklin Counties. Additional ecological informa-
tion on these species provided by Cooper-Ellis (in press). This
is
moss somewhat weedy
can be considered in calcareous habitats,
although The widespread
that habitat not limiting. species is in
is
known
from Asia
continental North America. also southeast
It is
and was
northern Europe. This species previously reported as
doubtful for Massachusetts bv Hilferty (1960).
(MNIACEAE)
Plagiomnium
Kop.
ellipticum (Brid.) T.
Franklin Countv fHi^h Ledges Wildlife Sanctuarv, Massachusetts
Shelbourne
moss
(Rhizomnium appalachian-
of
Spring Brook. Another record
state
um) was from
also from family Mniaceae, collected this lo-
the
y
The
common
elsewhere
in range.
its
hum
Poly
trie
(West
BCT & RA
MDC,
Milton)
Westover
Although species has long
log young hardwoods wetland. this
in a
&
been ohioense Ren. Card.,
confused with Polytrichum it is
common
much
of eastern
in
Rhodora
358 99
[Vol.
more
found
Europe. typically in northern latitudes or at high-
It is
er elevations in coniferous forest.
Pseudoleskeella tectorum (Funck ex Brid.) Kindb. in Broth.
(LESKEACEAE)
PW
Worcester County (Harvard Petersham)
Forest,
This species was collected from the trunk of an oak within the
Prospect Hill Tract of Harvard Forest in Petersham. This and
other Worcester County moss records were collected in conjunc-
tion with the long-term ecological research being conducted at
Harvard
Forest. Pseudoleskeella tectorum has a disjunct
distri-
more moun-
bution in the East, being characteristic of the western
tains of North America (Wilson and Norris 1989). reported
It is
New
by Clemants and Ketchledge York
(1990) as rare in State.
New
This is the first record for this species in the England states.
(DICRANACEAE)
Rhabdoweisia
crispata (With.) Lindb.
SAW
County (Adams Rowe)
Franklin Mountain,
Adams Moun-
This was from
species collected over rock
soil at
Rowe.
tain in widespread in eastern North America, northern
It is
and
lands.
Rhizomnium (MNIACEAE)
appalachianum
Kop.
T.
Franklin County (High Ledges Massachusetts
Wildlife Sanctuary,
& PWD
Audubon JEA
Shelbourne
Society,
Falls)
This species, along with another record moss species, Pla-
state
giomnium
was
ellipticum, collected under shaded conditions in
the vicinity of Spring Brook High Ledges Sanctuary.
Wildlife
at
In the Appalachian system, grows mainly seepage
this species in
and on
particularly rock and ledges in the spray of waterfalls. It
Man-
occurs throughout eastern North America and westward
to
itoba.
(AMBLYSTEGI
Scorpidium
scorpioides (Hedw.)
Limpr.
ACEAE)
(Kampoosa
GM
Hampden
County
(Wilbraham)
Motzkin
(1994) listed this species in his study of calcareous
New
Con-
fens in western Massachusetts and York and
adjacent
necticut. It has also been recently located in at least five sites in
—
Anderson Mosses
1997] of Massachusetts 359
et
al.
New
Hampshire. comm.,
(N. Slack, pers. 1997). Motzkin's col-
lections of Scorpidium scorpioides, as well as that of another state
Sphagnum made
record, contortion, were the same Wil-
at site in
braham. The These new
species primarily circumpolar. locales
is
among
more The
are the southern sites in eastern North America.
New
State of York includes species on of
this rarities
its list
(Clemants and Ketchledge
1990).
&
Sphagnum (SPHAGNA-
centrale C. Jens, in Arnell C. Jens.
CEAE)
SC-E
Franklin County (Hawley Bog, Hawley)
At Hawley Bog, Sphagnum found margins
species the
this is at
Crum
of and Anderson noted
the wetland. (1981) the species'
among
tendency the southern end of range to be found
at
its
Commonly
shrubs the margins of bog mats. found in rich bog-
at
New
gy woods Michigan and York, readily confused with
in
it is
S. palustre given the lack of reliable field characters (N. Slack,
New-
comm., North America from
range
pers. 1997). in is
Its
Washington, Iowa,
foundland through
Alaska, south Illinois,
to
New known
from
Indiana, West Virginia, and Jersey. It is also
Europe and from Greenland and northern Asia.
reported
(SPHAGNACEAE)
Sphagnum
contortum Schultz
GM
Hampden
County (Wilbraham)
Motzkin species in his study of calcareous
(1994) listed this
New
York and Con-
fens western Massachusetts and adjacent
in
Sphagnum
contortum, as well as that
necticut. His collections of
were from
the
of Scorpidium scorpioides,
another record,
state
circumpolar
same apparently
Wilbraham. This species
site in is
New
Nova York and
and known from Scotia to
the east
in
is
considered poorly under-
Michigan, although the distribution is
stood.
Ifia
Massa
Meadows Sanctuary,
Wildlife
JEA
Audubon
chusetts Society, Pittsfield)
swamp
was 1990 from a small at
This collected in
species
tamarack
Meadows Nearly of the
Sanctuary. all
inoe Wildlife
from what remain undetermined
wetland had died recently
this
North
through northern
broad range
uses. This SDecies has a
360
Rhodora
99
[Vol.
America, northern Europe, and The
northern Asia. most southern
on
reported
locale the east coast Connecticut.
is
&
Warnstorfia pseudostraminea Tuom. (AM-
(C. Muell.) Kop.
T.
BLYSTEGIACEAE)
Franklin County (Hawley Bog, Hawley) SC-E
moss
This species was found maple swamp
in a red the south
at
end
of the wetland, where sedges and mosses
of
characteristic
Some
neutral-basic conditions dominate.
rare liverwort taxa also
occur
in This known
this area. species, previously
as Callierei-
Crum
from Maine
Michigan,
Greenland.
We
acknowledgments.
thank
Ra;
Crum,
Peter Dunwiddie, Glenn
Motzki
Quillinan, Sally Shaw, Nancy Susan Wil
Slack,
Wilson
for Drovidinp vouchers: verifications and
ll
permission
William Buck, and Nancy
Slack are thanked for their review of
Tom PWD
the manuscript. Chase
thanked
is for his assistance to
making
in on
collections Martha's Vineyard. The Massachusetts
Natural Heritage and Endangered
Species Program provided
par-
SC-E
funding some
tial to for of work. The Center Bi-
this for
ological Conservation
of Audubon
the Massachusetts Society
JEA
provided
support
to during
the writing of
paper.
this
LITERATURE
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north of Mexico.
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and
ants,
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New
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ampton,
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1997] et of Massachusetts 361
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MASSACHUSETTS
DEPO
SPECIMENS
BARNSTABLE COUNTY
(Cape Cod Air Force Base,
RA
BCT &
Crum
Callicladium haldanianum (Grev.)
& RA
BCT
Dicranum Hedw.
condensatum