Search

Spruceanthus planifolius, a rare species previously known only from Japan and Korea, is reported here for the first time from China. This species is characterized by the large leaf lobules ca. 1/2 as long as leaf lobes, the lobule with one tooth, and the lobular tooth 3–4 cells long and 2–3 cells wide at base. Detailed description and illustrations of S. planifolius are provided. The intensive Floristic Habitat Sampling (FHS) approach is suggested as the reason for the discovery of this rare species from China.

Cololejeunea (Spruce 1884: 291) Stephani (1891: 208), with over 400 published binominals, is the largest genus of Lejeuneaceae Cavers (1910: 291) and the most species of the genus are distributed in the tropical and subtropical regions (Zhu & So 2001, Yu et al. 2013). These usually small sized liverworts grow preferably in extreme habitats, such as on the surface of living leaves, on twigs, or in running water (Gradstein et al. 2003). The currently accepted generic concept of the genus is based on its incubous foliation, leaves consisting of a dorsal lobe and a ventral lobule, Lejeunea-type branching, lack of underleaves, and transverse section of stem comprising of 5(–8) cortical cells and 1 medullary cell (Yu et al. 2013, and references therein).