Bryobartramia schelpei T.A.Hedderson, a new species to accommodate the South African populations of the genus

Abstract

South African populations of Bryobartramia have been treated as B. novae-valesiae, a species otherwise restricted to Australia. However, material from the two regions differs in a number of traits, and the African populations are here described as a new species, B. schelpei. The Cape species differs most obviously from B. novae-valesiae in the markedly prorate-papillose, narrow, thick-walled cells of the calyptra. Nested analysis of variance reveals further morphometric differences, including the relatively narrower, more cylindrical, calyptra with a longer rostrum, and the smaller leaf cells and spores. Bryobartramia schelpii is known only from arid portions of the winter rainfall region in the Northern and Western Cape Provinces of South Africa.

Keywords:

• Bryobartramiaceae
• Cape Flora
• Cape Floristic Region
• Endemic
• Karoo
• Great Escarpment
• Morphometric analysis

I am grateful to Patricia Eckel for the Latin diagnosis, to Miranda Waldron for help with the SEM, to Tracey Nowell for the illustrations, to Gonzalo Aguilar for his usual patient assistance with technical matters, and to the curatorial staff at BM, MEL, MO, and PRE for access to specimens. The University of Cape Town and The National Research Foundation of South Africa provided funding for the research.

Taxonomic Additions and Changes: Bryobartramia schelpei T.A.Hedderson sp. nov.