ABSTRACT
Pinnatella enrothiana Manju, J.Muñoz, Sruthi, Mufeed & K.P.Rajesh, sp. nov. (Neckeraceae) is described from the evergreen habitats of the Western Ghats of Kerala, India, and illustrations are provided. This new species of moss has some resemblance to the species P. minuta (Mitt.) Broth., P. amblyphylla Enroth and P. kuehliana (Bosch & Sande Lac.) M.Fleisch., but it differs from all of them in lacking a stem central strand, and in having entire leaves with partly bistratose margins at midleaf. An identification key to the Indian species of Pinnatella s.s. is provided.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to Dr Johannes Enroth for confirming the novelty of the species and for critical comments on the manuscript. C. N. Manju and B. Mufeed are thankful to the Science Engineering Research Board (SERB-DST), New Delhi, India, for the award of a core research grant to the Department of Botany, University of Calicut. O.M.S. is thankful to the University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi, India, for the award of a research fellowship. We acknowledge the authorities of the Department of Botany and University of Calicut for the facilities and support provided. We also thank the Kerala Forest and Wildlife Department for permission to survey the Anakkampoyil–Meppadi area in connection with the proposed tunnel; its staff members at Meppadi range of Wayanad district, for support during the field studies; and the Aranyakam Nature Foundation (ANF), Kochi, Kerala, for support. K.P.R. is grateful to the authorities of the Zamorin’s Guruvayurappan College, Kozhikode, Kerala, India.
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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
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Notes on contributors
C. N. Manju
Dr C. N. Manju is an associate professor at the University of Calicut. She is a bryophyte specialist who has been studying the bryophyte taxonomy and ecology of the Western Ghats since 2001.
J. Muñoz
Dr J. Muñoz is a senior researcher at the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid (CSIC). Besides having a lifelong interest in bryophyte taxonomy and floristics, he has studied biogeographical patterns and processes, such as those related to long-distance dispersal by wind.
O. M. Sruthi
Ms O. M. Sruthi is a research scholar of the Zamorins Guruvayurappan College, under the guidance of Dr K. P. Rajesh and the co-guidance of Dr C. N. Manju of the University of Calicut.
B. Mufeed
Dr B. Mufeed is a research associate at the DST-SERB CRG Project; he is studying the bryophytes of Kerala.
K. P. Rajesh
Dr K. P. Rajesh is Assistant Professor of Botany, and has been studying the diversity and ecology of the bryophytes, pteridophytes and angiosperms of southern India since 1994.