The new species Colura zoophaga from the Aberdare Mountains in Kenya is described as new. It differs from C. berghenii and C. hedbergiana in the obtuse apex, which is rounded or only weakly prolonged. C. zoophaga also differs from C. berghenii in the smooth leaf-cells, from C. hedbergiana in the 5-horned perianth keels and from C. calyptrifolia in the papillose perianth. A key to the African taxa of Sectio Macroramphus is provided. The ecology of C. zoophaga is briefly described

Fischer, Eberhard

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205Tropical Bryology 16: 205-208, 1999A new species of Colura (Lejeuneaceae) from the AberdareMountains/KenyaEberhard FischerInstitut für Biologie, Universität Koblenz-Landau, Rheinau 1, D 56075 Koblenz, GermanyAbstract: The new species Colura zoophaga from the Aberdare Mountains in Kenya is described asnew. It differs from C. berghenii and C. hedbergiana in the obtuse apex, which is rounded or onlyweakly prolonged. C. zoophaga also differs from C. berghenii in the smooth leaf-cells, from C.hedbergiana in the 5-horned perianth keels and from C. calyptrifolia in the papillose perianth. A keyto the African taxa of Sectio Macroramphus is provided. The ecology of C. zoophaga is brieflydescribed.The genus Colura Dum. comprises 61 speciesand has been revised world-wide by Jovet-Ast(1953, 1954, 1956, 1958, 1967a, 1967b, 1976,1980). Previously, before 1953, only Coluradigitalis (Mitten) Steph. and Colura dusenii(Steph.) Steph. had been recorded for tropicalAfrica. Jovet-Ast added Colura berghenii Jovet-Ast (1953), C. tenuicornis (Evans) Steph. (Jovet-Ast 1953, 1976) and C. kilimanjarica Pócs &Jovet-Ast (1980) and Vanden Berghen providedrecords of C. calyptrifolia (Hook.) Dum. Recentlya number of new species and records especiallyfor East Africa have been published: C. hedberg-iana Pócs, C. saroltae Pócs and C. usambaricaE.W. Jones (see Jones & Pócs 1987). Pócs (1990)recorded the tropical American C. cylindricaHerzog from Tanzania. The most recentdescription was C. hattoriana Pócs (1993), anepiphyllous plant from the Comores which hasbeen found also in Malawi (Wiggington & Grol-le 1996).However, only one species of Colura, C. tenui-cornis has ever been recorded for Kenya. Theplant is growing in the Taita Hills as epiphyllousbetween 1440 and 1680 m a.s.l. (Pócs 1991). Upto now, no species was known from the highmountain areas such as Mt. Elgon, the AberdareMountains and Mt. Kenya. This contrasts sharplyto Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, where fivespecies (C. saroltae, C. usambarica, C. kilima-njarica, C. berghenii and C. hedbergiana) werefound growing as epiphytes on twigs in theEricaceous belt (Jones & Pócs 1987, Pócs 1991).Additionally C. tenuicornis was found asepiphyllous in the montane rainforest of thismountain.During a field trip to the Aberdare Mountains inNovember 1998, author could collect specimensof Colura on dead and living twigs of Cliffortianitidula near the Fishing lodge at 3000 m a.s.l.,which proved to be not identical with the 11species of Colura reported so far from Africa andthus seems to be a hitherto undescribed species,.206Colura zoophaga Eb. Fischer sp. nov. - Fig. 1.Differt a C. berghenii foliis laevibus, a C. hed-bergiana perianthiis distincte cornutis, a C. ca-lyptrifolia perianthiis papillosis et ab omnibusspeciebus Sectionis Macroramphus apice fo-liorum breve prolongato vel rotundato.Type: Kenya, Aberdare National Park, Easternpart, Ericaceous moorland at Fishing Lodge nearKiandongoro Gate on twigs of Cliffortia nitidula,3000 m a.s.l., Fischer 6342, 11.11.1998 (Bholotype).Plants pale green, stems ca. 3 mm long, 70-90µm in diameter. Leaves ascending to erect,crowded, (0.7) 0.9-1,1 mm long and 0,4 mmbroad, cylindrical prolongation (beak) short orabsent, obtuse. Lamina cells isodiametric, 20-30µm wide, thin-walled, with angular thickenings.Sac 0.4 mm long and 0.2-0.3 mm broad, valvebroad ovate, about 40-60 µm wide, with 6-8median and 16-17 marginal hyaline cells.Amphigastria with equal lobes, each lobe 0.2-0.3 mm long. Gemmae rare, multicellular,discoid.Monoecious. Perianths 0.8-0.9 mm long, denselypapillose, with 5 winged horns. Bracts up to 0.4mm long. Androecia on lateral branches, eachbract with 2 antheridia. Capsule 0.15-0.2 mm indiameter.Etymology: The epithet “zoophaga” was chosen,as it was the first species of Colura which couldbe shown to trap small animals (Protozoa,Nematodes, Tardigrada) in their leaf utricles. Amore detailed description of this phenomenonwill be described by Barthlott et al.Distribution: Only known from the type localityin the Aberdare Mountains.Colura zoophaga belongs to Sectio Macro-ramphus Jovet-Ast, which includes two species,C. berghenii Jovet-Ast and C. hedbergiana Pócs,found in the Ericaceous belt at high altitudes. Itdiffers, however, from both taxa in the obtuseapex, which is rounded or only weakly prolonged.A distinct long beak, which is present in bothspecies as well as in Colura calyptrifolia is neverdeveloped. C. zoophaga also differs from C.berghenii in the smooth leaf-cells, from C.hedbergiana in the 5-horned perianth keels andfrom C. calyptrifolia in the papillose perianth.C. zoophaga, C. berghenii and C. hedbergianamay have evolved from a C. calyptrifolia-likeancestor in isolated African high mountainecosystems. It would be worth to look for Coluraalso in the Ericaceous belt of other Central andEast African mountains like Ruwenzori, Mt.Elgon or Mt. Kenya.The following key gives an overview of theAfrican members of Sectio Macroramphus.1  Cylindrical prolongation of lobule short orweakly developed or prolongation up to 1/3or ¼ of total leaf length, perianth with 5 shortand winged horns.........................................21*  Cylindrical prolongation of lobule nearly halfthe total leaf length, perianth with 5 long andstraight horns...........................C. tenuicornis2    Leaves with papillose cells, cylindrical prolon-gation of lobule distinct, perianth papillose.................................................. C. berghenii2* Leaves with smooth cells, cylindrical prolon-gation of lobule distinct or indistinct, round-ed, perianth papillose or smooth..................33   Perianth smooth................... C. calyptrifolia3* Perianth papillose.........................................44  Cylindrical prolongation of lobule distinct,perianth with 5 wings..............C. hedbergiana4* Cylindrical prolongation of lobule indistinct,short or absent, perianth with 5 horns .........      ..................................................C. zoophagaDistribution and EcologyColura zoophaga is known only from theAberdare Mountains, where it grows in theEricaceous belt at 3000 m a.s.l. Here we find amoorland with scattered Cliffortia nitidula-shrubs, which were distinguished as Cliffortianitidula-Satureja pseudosimensis community bySchmitt (1991). These shrublands provide amicroclimate, different from the surroundinggrassland and usually bear a rich herb and mosslayer with e.g. Rhodobryum keniae and Neckeraplatyantha. The average rainfall lies at 2049 mmp.a. with an average temperature of 8.9°C(Schmitt 1991). During dry season, these twig207Fig. 1: Colura zoophaga. A., B. Sterile shoots. C. Shoot with perianth and gemmae. D, E. Leaves.F. Mid-leaf cells. G. Amphigastrium.  H. Perianth. I. Perianth cells. K. Valve. All from Fischer6342.208dry out at day time and are rewetted by fog andclouds during night. The minimum temperaturesrecorded here are –3°C at night and the maximum25°C at day.ReferencesJones, E.W. & Pócs, T. 1987. African HepaticsXXXVI. Three new species of Colura. Jour-nal of Bryology 14: 495-501.Jovet-Ast, S. 1953. Le genre Colura: Hépatiques,Lejeuneaceae, Diplasieae. RevueBryologique et Lichénologique, NouvelleSérie 22: 206-312.Jovet-Ast, S. 1954. Le genre Colura: Hépatiques,Lejeuneaceae, Diplasieae (supplément). Re-vue Bryologique et Lichénologique,Nouvelle Série 23: 1-22.Jovet-Ast, S. 1956. Deux Colura nouveaux deMadagascar. Revue Bryologique etLichénologique, Nouvelle Série 25: 272-276.Jovet-Ast, S. 1958. Localités nouvelles de diversesespèces du genre Colura. RevueBryologique et Lichénologique, NouvelleSérie 27: 19-23.Jovet-Ast, S. 1967a. Colura récoltés du Pakistan auxPhilippines par Pierre Tixier. RevueBryologique et Lichénologique, NouvelleSérie 36: 138-142.Jovet-Ast, S. 1967b. Compléments à l’étude desColura: localités nouvelles; descriptiond’une espèce nouvelle de Bornéo. RevueBryologique et Lichénologique, NouvelleSérie 36: 143-148.Jovet-Ast, S. 1976. Compléments à la connaissancedes Colura: espèce et localités nouvelles.Revue Bryologique et Lichénologique,Nouvelle Série 42: 909-922.Jovet-Ast, S. 1980. La section Oidocorys S. J.-A. dugenre Colura Dum. est-elle âgée de plus de100 millions d’années? Cryptogamie,Bryologie et Lichénologie 1: 277-287.Pócs, T. 1990. The exploration of the East AfricanBryoflora. Tropical Bryology 2: 177-191.Pócs, T. 1991. The genus Colura in East Africa. Bulle-tin of the British Bryological Society 57: 33-39.Pócs, T. 1993. New or little known epiphyllousliverworts, IV. Two new Cololejeuneoideaefrom the Comoro Archipelago. Journal ofthe Hattori Botanical Laboratory 74: 45-57.Schmitt, K. 1991. The Vegetation of the AberdareNational Park, Kenya. Hochgebirgs-forschung 8: 1-259.Tixier, P. 1995. Résultats taxonomiques del’expedition BRYOTROP au Zaire etRwanda. 30. Bryophytes épiphylles (récoltesde E. Fischer). Tropical Bryology 11: 11-76.Wiggington, M.J. & Grolle, R. 1996. Catalogue ofthe Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of Sub-Saharan Africa. Bryophytorum Bibliotheca50: 1-267.

African Hepatics XXXVI. Three new species of Colura.

Catalogue of the Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of SubSaharan Africa.

Colura récoltés du Pakistan aux Philippines par Pierre Tixier.

Compléments à l’étude des Colura: localités nouvelles; description d’une espèce nouvelle de Bornéo. Revue Bryologique et Lichénologique,

Compléments à la connaissance des Colura: espèce et localités nouvelles.

Deux Colura nouveaux de Madagascar.

La section Oidocorys S. J.-A. du genre Colura Dum. est-elle âgée de plus de 100 millions d’années?

Le genre Colura: Hépatiques, Lejeuneaceae, Diplasieae (supplément).

Le genre Colura: Hépatiques, Lejeuneaceae, Diplasieae.

Localités nouvelles de diverses espèces du genre Colura.

New or little known epiphyllous liverworts, IV. Two new Cololejeuneoideae from the Comoro Archipelago.

Résultats taxonomiques de l’expedition BRYOTROP au

The exploration of the East African Bryoflora.

The genus Colura in East Africa.

A new species of Colura (Lejeuneaceae) from the Aberdare Mountains, Kenya

A new species of Colura (Lejeuneaceae) from the Aberdare Mountains, Kenya

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