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ADDITIONS TO THE MOSS FLORA OF JEBEL MARRA (DARFOUR STATE, SUDAN) 1: FAMILY FUNARIACEAE

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ADDITIONS TO THE MOSS FLORA OF JEBEL MARRA (DARFOUR STATE, SUDAN) 1: FAMILY FUNARIACEAE

I. Madani1 and S. Eltigani2

University of Khartoum, faculty of science, department of botany Emails: 1: [email protected] 2: [email protected]

Key words: Bryoflora, Mosses, Funariaceae, Jebel Marra, Sudan

Abstract

In a survey of five localities in Jebel Marra (Togi, Beldong, Golol, Murtagello and Nyrtete), two moss species Funaria hygrometrica Hedw. and Funaria nubica Mull. Hal. were reported for the localities Golol and Murtagello respectively .This increases the previous count to 15 moss species in total. Funaria nubica is a new record for Jebel Marra. Also In this paper a review of Sudan mosses belonging to the family Funariaceae is included which covers previous studies since 1967.

ﻣﺳﺗﺧﻠص

ﺧﻼل ﻣﺳﺢ ﻟﻠﺣزازﯾﺎت اﻟﻘﺎﺋﻣﺔ ﻓﻲ ﺧﻣس ﻣﻧﺎطق ﻓﻲ ﺟﺑل ﻣرة ھﻲ ﺗوﻏﻲ وﺑﻠدوﻧق وﻗﻠول وﻣورﺗﺟﯾﻠو وﻧﯾرﺗﯾﺗﻲ، ﺳﺟﻠت اﻟدراﺳﺔ اﻟﺣﺎﻟﯾﺔ ﻧوﻋﯾن ﻣن اﻟﺣزازﯾﺎت اﻟﻘﺎﺋﻣﺔ ھﻣﺎ Funaria hygrometrica Hedw ﻓﻲ ﻣﻧطﻘﺔ ﻗﻠول و Funaria nubica Mull. Hal ﻓﻲ ﻣﻧطﻘﺔ ﻣورﺗﺟﯾﻠو. ﺑﮭذا ﯾرﺗﻔﻊ ﻋدد أﻧواع اﻟﺣزازﯾﺎت اﻟﻘﺎﺋﻣﺔ ﻓﻲ ﺟﺑل ﻣرة إﺿﺎﻓﺔ إﻟﻰ ﻣﺎ ُﺳ ﱢﺟ ل ﻣن ﻗﺑل إﻟﻰ ﺧﻣﺳﺔ ﻋﺷر ﻧوﻋﺎ ً. ھذه اﻟدراﺳﺔ ﺗوﺛق ﺗﺳﺟﯾل Funaria nubica ﻟﻠﻣرة اﻷوﻟﻰ ﻓﻲ ﺟﺑل ﻣرة. اﺳﺗﻌرﺿت ھذه اﻟورﻗﺔ ﻣﺎ ﻋرﱠﻓﮫ اﻟﺑﺎﺣﺛون ﻣن ﺣزازﯾﺎت ﻗﺎﺋﻣﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺳودان ﺗﺗﺑﻊ ﻟﻠﻔﺻﯾﻠﺔ اﻟﻔﯾوﻧﺎرﯾﺔ ﻣﻧذ اﻟﻌﺎم 1967.

1 1. Introduction

Funariaceae is a moss family which belongs to the order Funariales (Buck and Goffinet, 2000). There are approximately 300 species included in this family, with 200 species in the genus Funaria (Mcintosh, 2002). Few publications have reported exclusively on the mosses of Sudan. Pettet (1967) studied mosses collected from Khartoum State, between latitude 15° 10'N. and 16° 30'N. He identified six mosses from this area including two species in the family Funariaceae namely Funaria hygrometrica Hedw. and Funaria nutans Mitt.

Imam and Ghabbour (1972) described five species from a moss collection made by Kassas in 1962 from Gebel Elba. They reported two species from the family Funariaceae belonging to the genus Entosthodon: Entosthodon muhlenbergii (Turner.) Fife and Entosthodon durieui Mont. These two species were also reported for the same area by Abu Salama (1998). Later El Saadawi et al. (2003) in their survey to update mosses of Gebel Elba reported the presence of Entosthodon pulchellus (Philib) Brugues.

Five new moss species for Sudan, one of them Funaria nubica Mull.Hal., deposited in the Herbarium of the Botany Department, University of Khartoum were collected by E. Bari from Erkawit area (Red Sea Hills), and identified in 1994 by Buck, the Curator of Bryophytes in New York Botanic Garden (E. Bari Personal Communication).

Wickens (1976) was the first to report on mosses of Jebel Marra. He described and identified four species including Funaria hygrometrica Hedw. Townsend (1984), in another survey identified 14 mosses from Jebel Marra but none of them belongs to the family Funariaceae. O'Shea (2003), in his checklist of Sub-Saharan African bryophytes, reviewed all the mosses of Sudan reported by various workers during the last century.

2. Materials and Methods

The aim of the present study was to report on members of Funariaceae collected in a survey to document the moss flora in five locations in Jebel Marra region of Darfur State, Western Sudan, during July-August 1998 and September 2000. The Massif is a region of high peaks and fertile valleys. Mosses were collected from five carefully selected localities of different altitudes viz. Togi, Beldong, Golol, Murtagello and Nyrtete on average altitudes of approximately 2600, 2500, 1500, 1000 and 1000 m. a.s.l. respectively. In each locality the encountered mosses were collected as mats from different locations alongside wadis and depressions. They were kept in paper bags labeled for site, date of collection and collector's name. On return to the laboratory macro-taxonomic characters were examined using a binocular microscope. Micro-taxonomic characters were examined by preparing whole mount specimens on slides as described below using Johansen technique (Johansen, 1940).

Plant materials were initially soaked in water in a Petri-dish for three hours and then cleaned twice under tap water to remove sand particles and plant debris. Fixation was done by placing the specimens in a fixative mixture of formaldehyde, glacial acetic acid and ethyl alcohol FAA: 5:5:90 (v/v) until chlorophylls were completely leached out. Dehydration was carried out after stretching each specimen between two slides before putting them in staining jars. Plants were then subjected to series of concentrations of ethyl alcohol (50%, 70% and 90%) before transferring them finally in wide-mouth bottles containing absolute alcohol to ensure complete dehydration. Each dehydration step was left overnight. Clearing of the specimens was done by leaving the plants in a mixture of 1:1 (v/v) xylene and cedar oil overnight and in pure xylene for half an hour. The specimens were then mounted on a drop of Canada Balsam Mountant and covered using a suitable-sized glass covers. All slides were placed in an oven adjusted at 60°C for 3 days .Photographs were taken from the whole mount slides using Leitz Dialux 20 lens microscope and Wild MPS 11 camera.

For presentation of whole mount samples, enlargement modified technique of Langford (1975) was followed. Using Focomat II enlarger, the prepared whole mount slides were situated on the negative holder and well focused. The sensitive papers were then exposed for 20 secs and processed. The individual samples which were cleaned, stretched and carefully pressed as herbarium specimens and deposited in the Herbarium of the Botany Department, Faculty of Science, University of Khartoum. In identifying Funaria species, the taxonomic works of Sim (1926), Van Der Wijk et al. (1969) and Malcolm and Nancy (2000) were followed.

2 3. Results and discussion The special importance of Jebel Marra as a habitat for bryophytes in Darfur State stems from the fact that this high volcanic massif gives rise to better soils, lower temperatures, and higher rainfall than the rest of the region of, West Darfur. Moreover, the degree of slopes, soil characteristics, rainfall conditions and the nature of erosion are closely related to the requirements of these plants.

The selected localities in Jebel Marra were very rich in mosses in terms of density. Two species which belong to the genus Funaria: F. hygrometrica and F nubica were collected from Golol. F. hygrometrica was also found in Jebbel Marra by Wickens (1976) and in Khartoum by Pettet (1967). Although Funaria nubica was collected from Erkawit in 1994 and kept as herbarium specimens, (E. Bari, Unpublished, Personal Communication) the present study reports the moss as a new record for the flora of Jebbel Marra. Fully identified species of Funariaceae with special reference to their distribution in Sudan are listed in Table 1 and demonstrated in Map Figure 1

Table 1: Distribution of members of Funariaceae in Sudan

Species Locality Reference ٍ◌ Funaria hygrometrica Khartoum State Pettet (1967) Funaria hygrometrica Jebel Marra Wickens (1976) Present Study Funaria nutans Khartoum State Pettet (1967) Funaria nubica Jebel Marra Present Study Erkawit E. Bari, Unpublished, Personal Communication Entosthodon muhlenbergii Gebel Elba Imam and Ghabbour (1972) Abu Salama (1998) Entosthodon duriewi Gebel Elba Imam and Ghabbour (1972) Abu Salama (1998) Entosthodon pulchellus Gebel Elba El Saadawi (2003)

Gebel Elba

Erkawit

NEW SUDAN

Jebel Marra

SOUTH SUDAN

0 400 km

Figure 1: Map of New Sudan showing locations of Jebel Marra, Gebel Elba and Erkawit

3 Detailed descriptions of the specimens collected during the present survey are given below. Special attention is paid to the more important taxonomic characters which are also illustrated in Figures 2 - 5.

3.1. Funaria hygrometrica Hedw. Plants in dense tufts, often in large patches, light green to pale yellowish green, 3-10mm high. Shoot is bulbiform. Leaf: broad and concave, chlorophyllose and with entired bordered margin; costa extends clearly to the tip of the leaf; leaf cells are long hexagonal; alar cells are like the rest leaf cells. Capsules: inclined, furrowed and smooth; seta is long, smooth and dark brown in colour; peristomes contiguous (touching but not overlapping or fused) and with cancellate (resembling a net work) apical disk; teeth are entire, sigmoid, regular and with hyaline tips (see Figures 2 and 3).

mm

Figure 2: Funaria hygrometrica: whole mount

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 3: Funaria hygrometrica: (a) closed capsule (b) open capsule showing peristome teeth (c) leaf with costa

4 3.2. Funaria nubica Mull. Hal. Plants in loose tufts, pale green 1-5mm high. Shoots are prostrate with erect branches; leaf: broad and rolled upward; leaf margin: smooth and thin-walled;; leaf cells are spindle-shaped; alar cells are like the rest leaf cells. Capsules: short and inclined; seta are short and brown peristome is single; teeth are entire (see Figures 4 and 5).

Figure 4: Funaria nubica (a) whole mount

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 5: Funaria nubica: (a) inclined capsule (b) peristome teeth (c) leaf apical cells

5 Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Prof E. Bari, Prof W. E. El Saadawi, Prof T. Heddrson and Prof B. O’Shea for their valuable help in various ways.

References

[1] Buck, William R. and Goffinet, B. Morphology and classification of mosses. in A. Jonathan Shaw and Bernard Goffinet (Eds.), Bryophyte Biology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (2000). pp.71-123.

[2] Mcintosh, Terry T. Funariaceae. Flora of North America. 27. New York, Oxford University Press, 2002. pp. 180–199.

[3] Pettet, A. Bryophytes of the Sudan I. Khartoum Province. Transactions of the British Bryological Society Vol. 5, (1967), 316-331.

[4] Imam, M. and Ghabbour, S.I. A contribution to the moss flora of Egypt. Bot. Notiser, Vol. 125, (1972). pp. 518-522.

[5] Abu Salama, U. Y. Mosses of Egyptian conservation areas: 1.Gebel Elba Protectorate. Phytomorphology Vol. 50, (1998). pp. 47-58.

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[7] Wickens, G.E. 1976. The flora of Jebel Marra (Sudan Republic) and its geographical affinities. Kew Bulletin Additional Series V. (1976). pp. 190.

[8] Townsend, C.C. A small collection of mosses from Jebel Marra, Sudan Republic. Lindbergia Vol.10. (1984). pp. 175-180.

[9] O'Shea, B.J. A Checklist of the mosses of sub-Saharan Africa. Tropical Bryology Vol. 4. (2003). pp. 1-182

[10] Johansen, D.A. Plant Microtechnique. First edition. Mc. Graw. Hill Book Company. New York and London, 1940.

[11] Langford, M.J. Advanced Photography, A gramer of technique. Royal College of Art, London, England. 1975 pp.175-192.

[12] Sim, T.R. The Bryophyta of South Africa. The Royal Society of the South Africa. Cape Town. 1926

[13] Malcolm, B. and Nancy, M. Mosses and Other Bryophytes. An Illustrated glossary. Micro-Optics press. Nelson, New Zealand, 2000.

[14] Van Der Wijk, R., Margadand, W.D. and Florschutz, V.A. Index, Muscorum. Vol. V, International Association for Plant Taxonomy, Netherlands. 1969.

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