AUSTRALASIAN BRYOLOGICAL NEWSLETTER Ulota phyllantha Number 24 June, 1991 ************************** EDITORS PATRICIA SELKIRK HELEN RAMSAY School of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, N.S.W. 2109. AUSTRALIA AUSTRALASIAN BRYOLOGICAL NEWSLETTER No 24, June 1991 EDITORIAL The 2nd Australasian Bryological Workshop to be held in Canberra from 26 Sept to l Oct 1991 promises to be a time of interesting field-tripping and valuable discussion with a range of people from near and far. Preliminary responses have been received from about 20 Australians, 8 New Zealanders, and 6 bryologists from further afield. If you are planning to attend but haven't yet let the organisers know, please contact Heinar Streimann or Judith Curnow, Cryptogamic Herbarium, A.N.B.G., G.P.O. Box 1777 Canberra, A.C.T. 2601. We look forward to seeing you there. Helen and Pat FLORA OF AUSTRAUA- BRYOPHYTE VOLUMES Planning for the three bryophyte volumes (2 mosses, I liverworts and hornworts) for the Flora of Australia is well advanced. The production of the Flora of Australia - Guide for Contributors to the Bryophyte Volumes (1990) has provided a stimulus for contributors. Similarly, deadlines for submission of manuscripts (1993, volume 51 [mosses], 1995 volume 52 [mosses], 1996 volume 53 [liverworts and hornworts]) have helped contributors feel that the books will actually get off "the drawing board " and get into print in the forseeable future. Already some manuscripts for each volume are in-house. For the first volume we have the Introductory Text and some family treatments beginning the editorial process. However, we are still in need of contributors. For the first volume we need contributors for Sphagnaceae, Ptychomitriaceae, Encalyptaceae and perhaps some of the Dicranaceae. We look forward to meeting as many contributors as possible at the Bryology Workshop in Canberra in September. A more detailed update will be available; opportunity to discuss details with editorial staff will be possible; and, a time slot for formal reporting and discussion is planned. Meanwhile, if you need a Guide (note that it should be read in conjunction with the Flora of Australia - Guide for Contributors (1987)), Map outlines, Flora of Australia Determinavit Slips, Seen for the Flora of Australia Slips, or any other assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me by post (or phone 06 250 9443). Helen Hewson, ABRS, GPO Box 636, Canberra, ACT 260 I POINTS FOR DISCUSSION ON BRYOPHYTE VOLUMES I was pleased to learn from information that has recently become available that there are now projected dates for publication of the Bryophyte volumes for the Flora of Australia. This project hasbeen progressing rather slowly over the last ten years. I feel that there are a number of points about the project that warrant discussion &,mongst contributors, and hopefully also at the Bryophyte Workshop in Canberra in September. ' First, although the project in now well underway, the p[alnned publication date of 1995 for the first volumeis still a long way off. Some of the research preparatory to writing sections for the Flora has already been published in journals. I hope people will continue to publish as the work is done, and so make information (both descriptions and keys) available quickly. 1 Second, I feel that there is a need for a uniform quality aznd style fo illsutration throughout the entire work. I offered to prepare the illustrations, working from specimens but various collaborators provided with specific instructions as to critical features needing to be portrayed. The proposal was discussed but it was felt that some contributors would probably have preferred to prepare their own illustrations. Third, it would be extremely useful to have available a separate publication as soon as possible that provides key spotting characters to allow identification of families and genera. An illustration of key characters for each genus would be useful. Fourth, I believe that if the job of producing the flora is to be done properly specimens from individual private herbaria as well as collections from all underlined state and institutional herbaria in the country must be studied. Examination of type specimens is also essential for correct verification of the species we allege are present. The task ahead of us is enormous but worthwhile. R.D. Seppelt, Antarctic Division, Channel Highway, Kingston, Tasmania, 7050 VISIT BY DR. JOHN SPENCE Dr. John Spence, from Utah, U.S.A., is working with Helen Ramsay on the genus Bryum and family Bryaceae for the Bryophyte Volumes for the Flora of Australia. Much of 1990 was spent examining collections including types while based at the University of Colorado, in his own time and at his own expense. In September 1990 he arrived in Australia to carry out both field and herbarium studies while based at the National herbarium of New South Wales under a grant from ABRS. The work here continued until the end of March 1991 when he returned to Utah. His travels have taken him so far to W.A., S.A., Vic., Tas., and southern N.S.W. (7,000Km and 1500 new collections). If possible he will return in 1992 to complete the work on tropical species in Qld and northern N.S.W .. John has enjoyed meeting almost all the Australian bryologists and was particularly thrilled to have been able to have discussions with David Catcheside, George Scott and lima Stone whilst in Australia. BRYUM IN AUSTRALASIA The genus Bryum is under review for the Flora of Australia project by John Spence and Helen Ramsay. In Australia the family Bryaceae contains weedy species favouring open to diffusely shaded habitats, often in disturbed or in marginal or ecotonal areas such as road cuts and banks, rock faces, streams (on rocks), or open soil. Quite a few species occur in calcareous and limestone habitats. Only Bryum billardieri and Orthodontium lineare are commonly found in temperate closed forest (rainforest), with Rhodobryum aubertii, Brachymenium nepalense and Bryum subfasciculatum in tropical-subtropical closed forests. Species predominantly corticolous or on bark include Brachymenium nepalense, Orthodontium ~ and l-2 Bryum sp. are mostly characterised by erect capsules, reduced peristomes and generally large spores. Weedy species or those that appear to be successful colonisers of disturbed soil (c. 24 species) are significantly more likely to produce specialised gemmae than those that are not good colonisers and include temperate, tropical and widespread species. Australian endemics (ca 6) are found in ecotonal or marginal habitats, are not good colonisers, do not significantly differ in sexuality, spore size, or ability to produce gemmae than species distributed outside Australia and e more likely to occur in southern temperate Australia. In Australasia at the present there are 10 genera and ca 90 species in the Bryaceae- Bryum 2 ··- ---- (50 Australian, 54 Australasian i.e. 50/54); Pohlia (10/13); Brachymenium (7/7); Orthodontium (3/4); Rhodobryum (2/2); Anomobryum (Ill); Epipterygium (0/1 ); Leptobryum (Ill) Plagiobryum (0/1) and Schizymenium (formerly Mielichhoferia) (1/1). In present studies four Bryum and Brachymenium species new to science have been found in Australia and four species added to the Australian flora (Bryum harrottii, B. tuberosum, Pohlia camptrotrachela and P. cf. proligera (yet to be verified). New collections of some poorly known species have extended their range and provided additional taxonomic information e.g. Bryum cheelii, B. inaeguale, B. microrhodon, B. subrotundifolium. A preliminary key to the family has been prepared and is available (from HPR) for anyone prepared to use it and provide feedback. Helen Ramsay & John Spence, National Herbarium of N.S.W, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney 2000. AMERICAN BRYOLOGICAL AND UCHENOLOGICAL SOCIETY MEETING, WAKULLA SPRINGS. FLORIDA My interest in bryophytes on limestones made irresistable a bryological meeting held in Florida (which is mostly limestone) from the 27th December, 1990, to the 2nd January, 1991. The meeting was organised by Bill Buck and held at the Wakulla Springs State Park, not far from Tallahassee, in the northern, or ""pan handle"" section of Florida. The scientific program organised by Bruce Allen comprised a wide range of papers, including two concerning bryophytes in Australia: A check list of Western Australian mosses by Anne Stoneburner, Robert Wyatt, lima Stone and David Catcheside, and my own on the distribution of bryophytes on limestones in eastern Australia. Although bryophytes on limestones were the Jure, the vascular plants were an unexpected bonus. The trees of the Wakulla Springs State Park are the exotic trees of our parks and gardens and included Taxodium (swamp cypress}, Nyssa sylvatica, Magnolia grandiflora, Acer rubra, Fraxinus carolinianus and Liguidambar styraciflua. In common with most Australians, I tend to despise pine forests. However, on the first outing to the Appalachicola State Forest, our North American friends were pointing out the extraordinary combination of forests of pine, trees generally considered to be temperate in origin, with an understory of tropical palms. And this, I suppose, is the enigma of Florida- a wonderful mix of conifers and deciduous hardwoods from the temperate north, with palms and tropical evergreen hardwoods more typical of the islands of the Caribbean. Florida also has an extraordinarily high number of endemic vascular plant species. The limestones of the Florida peninsula consist of calcareous marine deposits mixed with sand from the Appalachian mountains. These first emerged in the Pleistocene as a chain of islands and - hence the endemics - one species of each genus for each island in the archipelago. Ruth Breen, in 1953, described a similar mix of temperate and tropical bryophyte species in Florida and was intrigued by the number of tropical species which occurred exclusively on limestone in Florida. Paul Redfearn studied bryophytes in a limestone chasm in the north of Florida, and concluded that variation in moisture levels was the most significant factor in the distribution of bryophytes on limestones in Florida.