Guide to the Liverworts and Hornworts of Java

S. Robbert Gradstein, 2011

Description

KNOWLEDGE OF THE LIVERWORTS AND HORNWORTS OF JAVA


     Liverworts and hornworts of Java have been studied since almost two hundred years. The first species lists for Java were published by Reinwardt, Blume & Nees von Esenbeck (1824) and Nees von Esenbeck (1830). Important later authors who published on liverworts and hornworts of Java are van der Sande Lacoste (1857, 1864), Goebel (1888), Schiffner (1893, 1998-1900, 1900, 1900a), Verdoorn (1929, 1930, 1932, 1933, 1934) and Meijer (e.g., 1954a, 1957, 1958a, 1958b, 1959, 1960). The latter author also published several accounts of bryological fieldtrips in West Java (Meijer 1953, 1954b, 1954c, 1955, 1958c). An unfinished Liverwort Flora of Java by V. Schiffner (1900) treating about 125 species appeared in the series Flora de Buitenzorg, with descriptions (but no illustrations) and keys to the thalloid liverworts and some families of the leafy liverworts (Adelanthaceae, Gymnomitriaceae, Jungermanniaceae, Lophocoleaceae, Plagiochilaceae, Scapaniaceae p.p.). Many of the taxonomic names used in this Flora, as well as in the other papers cited here, have changed in the meantime and are no longer in use. A full listing of the synonyms and currently accepted names of liverworts and hornworts of Java is given in Söderström et al. (2010).
     After 1960, very little floristic work has been carried out on the liverworts and hornworts of Java, until very recently (e.g., Hasan & Ariyanti 2004, Damayanti 2006, Iskandar 2008, Haerida et al. 2010, Gradstein et al. 2010). However, a large number of taxonomic papers on liverworts and hornworts of Southeast Asia have appeared since 1960, and many of these contain descriptions of species from Java. A listing of these publications is given below.
     Recently, a first modern catalogue of the  liverworts and hornworts of Java has been compiled, Checklist of the hornworts and liverworts of Java (Söderström et al. 2010). A total of 568 species are listed for the island. Of these, about 480 are good species that have been studied and accepted in recent taxonomic revisions; most of them were reported from West Java, few from Central and East Java. The remaining 88 species are doutful taxa that have not been studied critically and may be synonyms. In addition, more than 100 species are erroneous reports and are excluded from the flora of Java. Most of them were reported from West Java, few from Central and East Java.
     In spite of all this information, there is no modern tool for the identification of the liverworts and hornworts of Java. Keys to selected genera and species are highly scattered in the literature, or are completely lacking. The present manual intends to fill this gap in the literature. It is based on a series of preliminary keys written by the author for the biennial Training Courses in Bryology and Lichenology at SEAMEO-BIOTROP in Bogor, Java (Tjitrosoedirdjo 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011). The keys were written based on study of collections made during the fieldwork by the author and the students in various localities in West Java, and on the basis of the literature.
     In the present publication, keys are provided for about 430 species of liverworts (in 107 genera and 39 families) and 15 species of hornworts (7 genera, 4 families). Additional species recorded from Java, that are still little known and in need of further study, are briefly mentioned. In addition, introductory chapters on the morphology, ecology and classification of liverworts and hornworts of Java, a list of technical terms, a list of abbreviations, and an index to scientific names are provided. Illustrations are given for selected genera and species.
     Taxonomic papers consulted for this manual include - beside the classical publications on the flora of Java mentioned above - the important series of papers on the liverworts and hornworts of New Guinea by Dr. Sinikka Piippo and coworkers (Piippo 1984a, 1984b, 1984c, 1985a, 1985b, 1985c, 1988a, 1988b, 1989, 1991a, 1991b, 1992, 1993, Grolle & Piippo 1986, 1990, VáÅ?a & Piippo 1989a, 1989b), the excellent monograph of the epiphyllous liverworts of China by Zhu & So (2001), as well as numerous revisionary studies on individual genera and families of Southeast Asiatic liverworts, including Acanthocoleus (Kruijt 1988), Acrolejeunea (Gradstein 1975), Anastrophyllum (Kitagawa 1967, 1970, 1981, Pócs 1969, VáÅ?a & Piippo 1989a), Asterella (Long 2006), Bazzania (Meijer 1960, Kitagawa 1972, 1975, 1977, 1979, del Rosario 1977), Cephalozia (VáÅ?a 1988), Cephaloziella (Kitagawa 1969), Ceratolejeunea (Mizutani 1981, Zhu et al. 2005), Cheilolejeunea (Mizutani 1967, 1972a, Zhu et al. 2002, Zhu & Lai 2005), Chiastocaulon (Groth & Heinrichs 2003), Cololejeunea (Benedix 1953, Mizutani 1984, 1986, Thiers 1988, Zhu & So 2001, 2002, Zhu 2005), Colura (Jovet-Ast 1953, Thiers 1987), Cyathodium (Schiffner 1938-1939), Drepanolejeunea (Herzog 1930-1939, Grolle 1976, Udar & Awashti 1982, Mizutani 1990, Grolle & Zhu 2000), Fossombronia (Krayesky et al. 2005), Frullania (Verdoorn 1930, Hattori 1972-1981, 1975, 1980, 1982, 1986, Hattori & Thaithong 1977), Harpalejeunea (Mizutani 1973, Grolle 1979, Grolle & Reiner-Drehwald 1999), Hattoriella (Bakalin 2003), Herbertus (So 2003c, Juslén 2006), Jamesonielloideae (Grolle 1971), Lejeunea (Eifrig 1937, Mizutani 1963, 1964, 1970, 1972a, 1972b, Zhu & So 2001, Zhu & Grolle 2003, G.-E. Lee in prep.), Lejeuneaceae subfam. Ptychanthoideae (Thiers & Gradstein 1989, Gradstein et al. 2002, Haerida et al. 2010), Lepidolejeunea (Piippo 1986), Leptolejeunea (Herzog 1942), Lethocolea (Udar & Kumar 1986), Lopholejeunea (Zhu & Gradstein 2005), Marchantia (Bischler 1989), Metzgeria (So 2003b), Pedinophyllum (Inoue 1965), Plagiochila (Inoue 1984), Plagiochilion (Inoue 1964), Porella (Hattori 1978), Pycnolejeunea (He 1999),  Radula (Yamada 1979, So 2006), Riccardia and related genera (Meijer 1958b, Furuki 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2006), Riccia (Meijer 1958a), Sandeothallus (Schuster 1982), Schistochila (So 2003a), Siphonolejeunea (Herzog 1948), Stenolejeunea (Schuster 2000b), Solenostoma (Amakawa 1959-1972, VáÅ?a 1973 etc.), Syzygiella (Inoue 1966b), Treubia (Schuster & Scott 1966), Tuyamaella (Tixier 1973), Wettsteinia (Grolle 1965a), etc. Important papers consulted on the hornworts of Java and other tropical Asiatic regions were those by Meijer (1954, 1957), Hasegawa (1979, 1980, 1983, 1984) and Piippo (1993). The collections of the Herbarium Bogoriense (BO), which contain numerous specimens of liverworts and hornworts from Java (most of them made during first half of the 20th century), were also consulted. Finally, an early draft of the Checklist of the hornworts and liverworts of Java, kindly made available by Dr. Lars Söderström, has been an invaluable source of information.
     The present keys, prepared over a period of more than ten years and used intensively by the participants of the training courses in Bogor and others, have undergone numerous modifications and improvements over time. In spite of the long history of writing and revising, the keys should still be considered preliminary ones and undoubtedly contain errors. The author shall be most grateful for comments and suggestions that might lead to further improvement of the text.

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