Seven new moss records are reported for Thailand moss flora, namely Anacamptodon latidens, Fissidens beckettii, Fissidens bryoides var. esquirolii, Fissidens bryoides var. schmidii, Fissidens flabellulus, Fissidens guangdongensis, and Weissia platystegia. Anacamptodon is a new generic record for Indochina. Anacamptodon latidens, Fissidens bryoides var. esquirolii, Fissidens bryoides var. schmidii, Fissidens flabellulus, and Fissidens guangdongensis are also new records for the Indochinese moss flora

Manachit, Sudchit

Santanachote, Kanya

Tan, Benito C.

Vongkuna, Kanjana

English

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95TROPICAL BRYOLOGY 27  (2006)Thailand Chiang Mai mossesTropical Bryology 27: 95-100, 2006New records of Thailand mosses collected from Chiang MaiProvinceBenito C. Tan 1, Kanjana Vongkuna 2, Sudchit Manachit 2 and KanyaSantanachote 21 Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore1192602 Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai,Thailand 50200Abstract.  Seven new moss records are reported for Thailand moss flora, namely Anacamptodonlatidens, Fissidens beckettii, Fissidens bryoides var. esquirolii, Fissidens bryoides var. schmidii,Fissidens flabellulus, Fissidens guangdongensis, and Weissia platystegia.  Anacamptodon is a newgeneric record for Indochina.  Anacamptodon latidens, Fissidens bryoides var. esquirolii, Fissidensbryoides var. schmidii, Fissidens flabellulus, and Fissidens guangdongensis are also new recordsfor the Indochinese moss flora.IntroductionThailand, formerly Siam, is located incontinental SE Asia between the latitudes 6o-20oN and longitudes 98o-105o E.  It shares borderson the west and northwest with Myanmar, onnortheast with Laos, on southeast withKampuchea, and on south with Malaysia. Withan area of 513,115 square kilometers, the countryexhibits a diverse landscape, ranging from sealevel to 2,565 meters in elevation.  The climateis monsoonal with a dry and hot season lastingfrom 4-6 weeks in the peninsula, and 3-4 monthsin the north and northeast (Maxwell 2004).  Asa result, two basic forest types are recognizedfor the country, viz., wet evergreen anddeciduous (Maxwell 2004).  However, there areseven floristic regions in Thailand which roughlycorrespond with the rainfall and vegetation types(Smitinand 1989; Maxwell 2004).  Under thisphytogeographical scheme, Chiang MaiProvince falls within the North Floristic Regionwhich has a strong affinity with the floras ofChina (Yunnan) and Myanmar, with influencesfrom the Indian Himalayan flora.  Thischaracteristic feature of the flora of North Regionis borne out by the new moss records reportedbelow.96TROPICAL BRYOLOGY 27  (2006)Tan et al.The history of botanical studies of the country’sflora was recently reviewed by Maxwell (2004),and a historical synopsis of Thailand bryologywas presented by He Si (see http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/moss/Thailand/history.shtml).  Important past publications onmosses of Thailand include Dixon (1932, 1935),Noguchi (1960), Horikawa and Ando (1964),Tixier and Smitinand (1966), Touw (1968) andTixier (1971).  Tan & Iwatsuki (1993) publisheda checklist of Indochinese mosses, whichincluded references of 563 Thai mosses in 167genera, while an electronic moss checklist ofThailand housed at the MO website (http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/moss/Thailand/list.shtml) reported 620 species and 31subspecific taxa distributed in 190 genera and52 families.Although Thailand has been botanizedextensively in the past and has a relatively wellknown moss flora (Tan and Iwatsuki 1993)among the Indochinese countries, a new, smallcollection of mosses, mainly from Chiang MaiProvince, has yielded eight new species recordsof mosses for the country.  In August of 2005, aworkshop on the biodiversity and conservationof bryophytes and lichens was conducted atChiang Mai University.  Subsequently, a fieldtrip was organized to visit the oak-pine mixedmontane deciduous forest at Doi Mon LongViewpoint to collect mosses for study.  Belowwe report six new moss records that came out ofthis endeavour.  In addition, two other newrecords of Thailand mosses collected from DoiSuthep and Doi Ithanon are also included.It is noteworthy that the seven new moss records,mostly Fissidens, belong to the micro speciesgroup with the plants less than 5 mm tall.  Thismay explain why the species have not been seenby previous collectors in Thailand.  Except forWeissia platystegia, which is an ephemeral, andprobably opportunistic species, the distributionpatterns of the remaining seven mosses highlightfurther the Sino-Japanese and Indian Himalayanfloristic connections of the Chiang Mai flora.New Thailand moss recordsAnacamptodon latidens (Besch.) Broth.  –This is a small moss species that forms greenishmats on bark and knothole of tree trunk.  Theleaves are oval to ovate-lanceolate, with a shortsingle costa (ecostate on a few leaves), reachinghalf the length of the leaf.  The leaf cells areoval and short-oblong.  Leaf alar cells arequadrate.  The erect capsule has a wide mouthwith recurved and papillose outer peristometeeth, an unmistakable feature of the genus.  Anillustration of this species in Noguchi (1991)shows very well this character seen in our Thaispecimen.The distinction between A. latidens and thewidespread boreal species, A. splachnoides(Brid.) Brid., is not clear.  Here we refer our Thaicollection to the former taxon because it is awidespread temperate Asiatic species knownfrom Russian Siberia, Mongolia, Japan, China,Himalaya and India.Ancamptodon Brid. is a new generic and speciesrecord for the Indochinese moss flora (see Tanand Iwatsuki 1993).Specimen studied: on bark of tree trunk, DoiMon Long Viewpoint, coll. Tan 05-102 (SINU).Fissidens beckettii Mitt. (Plate 1) –The very small plant with curved capsules, andthe somewhat asymmetrical leaf outline bendingat the junction of the vaginant laminae, point tothis species for a positive identification.Fissidens beckettii is reported also fromMyanmar, Japan and China.Specimen studied: Doi Mon Long Viewpoint,coll. Kanjana & Tan 05-100 (SINU).Fissidens bryoides Hedw. var. esquirolii (Thér.)Z. Iwatsuki & Tad.Suzuki –97TROPICAL BRYOLOGY 27  (2006)Thailand Chiang Mai mossesThis variety of Fissidens bryoides ischaracterized by weakly developed limbidia,mostly confining to the vaginant laminae ofperichaetial leaves.  Stem cross section showsnone to weakly differentiated central strand.  Itis similar in leaf outline and leaf areolation to F.schwabei, but the latter has curved capsule.  Leafcells more or less are mammillose.  No axillaryhyaline nodule was seen in the Thai specimens.Fissidens bryoides var. esquirolii is known fromJapan, China and Taiwan.  It is new to Indochina.Specimen studied: on tree trunk, Doi Mon LongViewpoint, coll. Tan 05-106 (SINU).Fissidens bryoides Hedw. var. schmidii(Muell.Hal.) Chopra & Kumar –This is a common variety of Fissidens bryoidesin Malesia and also in southern China.  Althoughthe variety was described in Iwatsuki and Suzuki(1982) to have no central strand in the stem cross-section, the drawing of this species in thepublication does show a somewhat differentiatedcentral strand.  Leaf cells of var. schmidii,measuring 7-10 ìm, are strongly mammillose.No axillary hyaline nodule was seen. Fissidensbryoides var. schmidii is widely distributed fromJapan, China, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, to thePhilippines, Indonesia and New Guinea.  It is awelcome addition to the Thai and Indochinesefloras.Specimens studied: common on soil along pavedtrail at Ang Ka, 2500 m, summit of Doi Ithanon,colls. Tan 05-103, 05-104, 05-105, Kanjana 175(SINU).Fissidens flabellulus Thwaites & Mitten –The crenulate margin, at times irregularly so,formed by the protrusion of somewhatmammillose, thin-walled cells along the leafmargin, is distinctive for this species.  Thelaminal cells, measuring 12-15 x 20-25 ìm, arequadrate to polygonal, with a good proportionof mixture of short rectangular cells.  Althoughthe leaf cells are described as quadrate tohexagonal in many publications (Iwatsuki &Suzuki, 1982; Li and Iwatsuki 2001), theillustrations of leaf areolation in Iwatsuki andSuzuki (1982, Pl. XXX, figs. 10, 11 & 14) showseveral rectangular ones.  Overall, the size ofleaf cells is rather large for a species of micro-Fissidens, such as F. flabellulus.  Our Thaispecimen matches well the illustrations of thisspecies shown in Eddy (1988, Fig. 55 on p. 67),which was considered a synonym of F. serrartusMuell.Hal.  Here we follow Li and Iwatsuki(2001) in accepting the two as separate species.Compared to Fissidens flabellulus, F. serratusis characterized by having sharply serrate (notcrenulate) leaf margins and the leaf cells areclearly unipapillose (not mammillose).  Axillaryhyaline nodule is differentiated in Fissidensflabellulus, but is observed to be weaklydifferentiated in F. serratus.  Fissidensflabellulus is known from Japan, China,Malaysia, India, and Sri Lanka, and is a newmoss for Indochina.Specimen studied: Doi Mon Long Viewpoint,coll. Kanjana & Tan 05-101 (SINU).Fissidens guangdongensis Iwatsuki & Z.-H. Li(Plate 2) –This species is similar to the widespreadFissidens pellucidus Hornsch. in leafmorphology and areolation, except for its costa,which disappears several cells below the leafapex.  Fissidens guangdongensis was only givena taxonomic recognition recently (Li 1985).Thereafter, it was identified and reported frommany countries in SE Asia (Tan and Choy 2002).Its presence in Thailand is to be expected.Fissidens guangdongensis is also a new mossrecord for the Indochina region.Specimen studied: on soil, roadside, Doi MonLong Viewpoint, coll. Kanjana 158 (SINU).Weissia platystegia (Dixon) A. Eddy –98TROPICAL BRYOLOGY 27  (2006)Tan et al.The specimen, unfortunately or fortunately, hasone somewhat mature, sessile capsule showinga differentiated operculum with a rather longconic lid.  Eddy (1990) described the leaves ofthis species on the basis of Papua New Guineaplants as „narrowly lanceolate, tapered to acuteapices; costa excurrent as a small cusp…“Weissia platystegia was reported from Vietnamfor the first time outside of its Australasian rangeby Tan et al. (2003).  The Vietnamese plantspecimen has a shorter opercular lid than thoseillustrated by the PNG specimens.Specimen studied: on soil in forest, 800 m, DoiSuthep, coll. Sodchit 126 (SINU).Acknowledgement.  We thank Mr. Lim Yao-Hui atNUS in Singapore for the coloured photography ofAnacamptodon latidens.  Prof. Z. Iwatsuki has kindlyread and commented on the manuscript. The NUSResearch Grant (R-154-000-185-112) is alsoacknowledged.Literature CitedDixon, H.N. 1932. On the moss flora of Siam.  J.Siam Soc. Nat. Hist. Suppl. 9: 1-51.Dixon, H.N. 1935. Further contributions to the mossflora of Siam.  J. Siam Soc. Nat. Hist. Suppl.10: 1-30.Eddy, A. 1988. A Handbook of Malesian Mosses. Vol.1, Sphagnales to Dicranales.  BritishMuseum (Natural History), London.Eddy, A. 1990. A Handbook of Malesian Mosses. Vol.2, Leucobryaceae to Buxbaumiaceae.Natural History Museum Publications,London.Horikawa, Y. and H. Ando. 1964. Contribution tothe moss flora of Thailand, pp.1-44. In: T.Kira and T. Umesao (eds.) Nature and Lifein Southeast Asia, vol. III. Kyoto.Iwatsuki, Z. and T. Suzuki. 1982. A taxonomicrevision of the Japanese species of Fissidens(Musci).  J. Hattori Bot. Lab. 51: 329-508.Li, Z.-H. 1985. A revision of the Chinese species ofFissidens (Musci, Fissidentaceae).  ActaBot. Fenn. 129: 1-65.Li, Z.-H. and Z. Iwatsuki. 2001. Fissidentaceae, pp.3-67. In: Li Xing-Jiang, M.R. Crosby & S.He (eds.). Moss Flora of China (EnglishVersion), vol. 2 (Fissidentaceae-Ptychomiriaceae).  Science Press (Beijing,New York) & Missouri Botanical Garden(St. Louis). .Maxwell, J.F. 2004. A synopsis of the vegetation ofThailand.  Nat. Hist. J. Chulalongkorn Univ4: 19-29.Noguchi, A (Supplemented by Z. Iwatsuki and T.Yamaguchi). 1991. Illustrated Moss Floraof Japan, Part 4.  Hattori BotanicalLaboratory, Obi.Tan, B.C. and M.-S. Choy. 2002. The taxonomy,phytogeography and conservation of theFissidens flora of Singapore, with one newspecies, F. pseudoceylonensis.  J Bryol. 24:45-55.Tan, B.C. and Z. Iwatsuki. 1993. A checklist ofIndochinese mosses.  J. Hattori Bot. Lab.74: 325-405.Tan, B.C., V. T. T. Huong and B.-C. Ho. 2003.Trachycarpidium echinatum and Weissiaplatystegia, new to Vietnam andContinental SE Asia.  Cryptogamie, Bryol.24: 43-47.Tixier, P. 1971. Bryophytae Indosinicae Mousses deThailande.  Ann. Fac. Sci. Phnom Penh 4:91-166.Tixier, P. and T. Smitinand. 1966. Checklist of themoss collections in the forest herbarium,Royal Forest Department, Bangkok.  Nat.Hist. Bull. Siam Soc. 21: 161-195. Touw, A. 1968. Miscellaneous notes on Thai mosses.Nat. Hist. Bull. Siam Soc. 22: 217-244.99TROPICAL BRYOLOGY 27  (2006)Thailand Chiang Mai mossesPlate 1. Fissidens beckekettii Mitt. (based on Kanjana & Tan 05-100). A & B. Plant habit; C. Leafshowing the bending outline; D. Leaf apex;  E & F. Leaf margins; G. Basal part of vaginant laminashowing the limbidium.100TROPICAL BRYOLOGY 27  (2006)Tan et al.Plate 3. Fissidens guangdongensis Iwats. & Li (based on Kanjana 158). A. Plant habit; B. Stemwith leaves; C. Leaf; D. Leaf apex; E – G. Portion of lamina showing the leaf cells and marginwithout limbidium.

New records of Thailand mosses collected from Chiang Mai Province

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