Vesicularia inflectens
Common name
Moss
Family
Hypnaceae
Flora category
Non-vascular – Native
Endemic taxon
No
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
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 | Data Deficient
Distribution
Indigenous. New Zealand: Kermadec Islands (Raoul Island). Known from one gathering made in May 2009. Common in many Melanesian and Polynesian islands, South-east Asia and China
Detailed description
Plants variable yellow-brown to golden-green when fresh, lustrous, on soil. Stems creeping, irregularly branched, to c.15 mm, in cross-section with small, firm-walled cortical cells, no hyaloderm or central strand, with brown and apparently smooth rhizoids arising in fascicles on the ventral surface. Branches rather short. Stem and branch leaves weakly differentiated. Leaves complanate, secund in upper part of stems, c.1.6–1.8 X 0.8–0.9 mm, the dorsal leaves nearly symmetric, the lateral leaves markedly asymmetric, entire or crenulate above, broadly ovate, acute; upper laminal cells rhombic, thin-walled and lax, smooth, c.60–90 X 15–18 micrometre, becoming smaller at leaf apex and somewhat more elongate near leaf base; marginal cells sometimes weakly differentiated at mid leaf, not forming an obvious border; alar cells not differentiated. Costae weak, short and double or nearly absent. ?Autoicous. Perichaetia scattered on stems; perichaetial leaves somewhat smaller than vegetative, erect. Setae smooth, elongate, c.9–15 mm; capsules horizontal, oblong-cylindric with neck virtually lacking, c.1 mm; exothecial cells rather firm-walled and weakly thickened in corners. Operculum conical.
Fruiting
The sole New Zealand gathering was sparingly fertile when collected in May 2009.
Threats
Known for New Zealand so far from a single chance gathering made from “rough, chewed up ground that would dry up in summer” at c.80 m a.s.l. on the roadside near the entrance to Ravine 7, Raoul Island, where it was mistaken in part for Ectropothecium sandwichense and a Rhynchostegium sp. Superficially the similarity of this moss to these two other genera - both of which are common on Raoul means that Vesicularia is probably more overlooked on Raoul than threatened. Further, this species should be searched for in northern New Zealand (within the known range of Ectropothecium).
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange (30 August 2010).
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Vesicularia inflectens Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/vesicularia-inflectens/ (Date website was queried)