A review of Calypogeia (Marchantiophyta) in the eastern Sino-Himalaya and Meta-Himalaya based mostly on types

Abstract

The eastern part of the southern macroslope of the Himalayan Range, Hengduan Mountains and the complex of smaller ranges from Hengduan southward to northern Indochina is one of the taxonomic hotspots of Calypogeia in Asia and the world. Two main circumstances hamper the understanding of taxonomic diversity of the genus in this area: the absence of recent and detailed descriptions and identification keys and the necessity of studying fresh material with surviving oil bodies in leaf cells. This study resulted in 1) eleven species confirmed for this vast land, 2) seven more taxa recorded but likely based on identification mistakes and 3) fourteen more taxa that are not yet recorded but may be expected in the area. All these taxa are discussed, and most of them are illustrated and described based on the types; an identification key is provided. The occurrence of North Holarctic taxa is hardly probable in the Sino-Himalaya, whereas new records of taxa known from the southern half of the Japanese Archipelago, Taiwan and southeastern mainland China are possible.

Calypogeia (Calypogeiaceae, Marchantiophyta) in Pacific Asia: Updates from Molecular Revision with Particular Attention to the Genus in North Indochina

“…This point of view was followed in the World Liverwort Checklist [ 17 ]. Dissimilar to those latter views, C. yoshinagana was treated as a distinct species by Bakalin et al [ 1 ] and listed in Korea by Choi et al [ 19 ]. Calypogeia tosana and C. yoshinagana form a well-supported clade in the phylogenetic trees and are indeed quite similar morphologically, although they may be distinguished by the leaf apex that is commonly bifid in C. tosana and mostly undivided in C. yoshinagana .…”

“…Another distinguishing feature of C. subalpina is common subrotund underleaves versus constantly transversely ellipsoidal underleaves in C. neesiana . The photograph from this type of specimen is provided in [ 1 ]. The specimen published in Bryophyta Selecta Exsiccata №1293 under C. neesiana subsp.…”

“…Calypogeia is one of the most taxonomically complex genera in Asia, and its representatives are difficult to identify and classify [ 1 ]. These difficulties are mostly due to (1) the great taxonomic value placed on features of intracellular organelles called oil bodies for traditional (morphological) systematics (these organelles rapidly decompose, even under optimal storage conditions) and (2) the presence of a large number of semicryptic species, which differ slightly in morphology, especially in a dried state [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ].…”

“…These difficulties are mostly due to (1) the great taxonomic value placed on features of intracellular organelles called oil bodies for traditional (morphological) systematics (these organelles rapidly decompose, even under optimal storage conditions) and (2) the presence of a large number of semicryptic species, which differ slightly in morphology, especially in a dried state [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]. A review of the genus in the Sino-Himalaya based on available literature data and the study of type specimens was previously provided by our group [ 1 ]. As expected, the molecular genetic exploration undertaken in the present study revealed a number of species that need to be described as new to science, as they are not conspecific to morphologically similar taxa known from Europe and North America.…”

“…As a result, in addition to considering the actual species found in North Indochina, it was necessary to describe a number of species from extratropical Pacific Asia, which helped to avoid confusion. In fact, a revision of the Calypogeia found in Pacific Asia was obtained, except for a few taxa described from Japan (which were discussed in our previous work [ 1 ], since the “fresh” material suitable for molecular genetic analysis was not available for some Japan-derived taxa). Therefore, the goal of this study was to describe species that were new to science and widespread in Pacific Asia.…”