A synopsis of New ZealandSphagna, with a description ofS. simplexsp. nov

Abstract

Nine species of Sphagnum are documented in the New Zealand flora: S. australe, S. compactum, S. cristatum, S. falcatulum, S. novozelandicum, S. perichaetiale, S. squarrosum, S. subnitens, and S. simplex Fife sp. nov. A key to species is presented and all species are described. Sphagnum simplex, in section Subsecunda, is described and illustrated, its distribution is mapped, and ecology and systematic relationships are discussed. Sphagnum compactum is recorded from New Zealand and Australasia for the first time; its distinguishing microscopic features are illustrated and known New Zealand distribution mapped.The species occurring in New Zealand are assignable to six sections in Sphagnum. Each section is discussed with emphasis on its distinguishing morphological features, historical background, and taxonomic and related typification problems associated with its New Zealand representatives and their distribution here. Lectotypes are designated for the names S. antarcticum Mitt., S. australe Mitt., S. compactum var. ovatum Hook.f. & Wils., S. cristatum Hampe, and S. novo-zelandicum Mitt.

Systematics ofSphagnumsectionSphagnumin New Zealand: A microsatellite‐based analysis

“…Typically pigmented (browngreen) plants of S. cristatum were also present at study area 7, and these occasionally grew intermixed with the red morphotypes. Photographs of the red ( Microscopic analysis of the 34 S. cristatum specimens collected for this study, as well as some 100 herbarium specimens from aK, BiNG, and ChR (from both the North island and the South island), showed that all (including the red morphotype) had a branch leaf chlorophyllose cell shape typical of S. cristatum, as described accurately by andrews (1951) and Fife (1996). in cross-section, the chlorophyllose cells are elliptical to urceolate and are usually well exposed on the concave (adaxial) leaf surface by a thickened end wall.…”

“…This species has been reported from a limited number of New Zealand localities (Fife 1996;Karlin & andrus 2006), and we can report a new location for S. perichaetiale on the South island. a J. K. Bartlett collection housed at aK contains a few stems of S. perichaetiale collected near Ross (westland land District).…”

“…Subsequent reports of S. magellanicum and S. palustre in New Zealand (Crum & anderson 1981;Bartlett 1984;Crum 1984) have been attributed to misidentifications (Fife 1996;Seppelt 2006). During the course of fieldwork in New Zealand, a wine-red morphotype otherwise similar to S. cristatum was encountered.…”

“…willis (1953) placed S. grandifolium in synonymy with S. beccarii and Eddy (1977) determined that both S. beccarii and S. grandifolium were in fact synonymous with S. perichaetiale (an interpretation accepted here). Sphagnum perichaetiale was subsequently reported for New Zealand based on collections made by J. K. Bartlett on the North island (Crum & anderson 1981;Bartlett 1984;Crum 1984;Fife 1996). The species was actually collected in New Zealand before Bartlett collected it; the earliest New Zealand collection of S. perichaetiale (which had been mis-identified as S. cristatum) on record was made on the South island in 1941 (Karlin & andrus 2006).…”

Sphagnum incundum a new species in Sphagnum subg. Acutifolia (Sphagnaceae) from boreal and arctic regions of North America

“…It is mainly a boreal subgenus with approximately 28-31 species known from the northern hemisphere (Gao and Crosby 1999, Iwatsuki 2004, Hill et al 2006, McQueen and Andrus 2007, Flatberg 2013. The subgenus also embraces a few species in the southern hemisphere (Eddy 1985, Fife 1996, Müller 2009). The most recent species described in subg.…”