Tropical Bryology, Volume 16 (1999)
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The first issue of Tropical Bryology was published ten years ago in 1989. Only quite rarely is a new bryological journal founded, and it is a risk to introduce a new journal to those already established. There are examples (e.g., Acta Bryolichenolica Asiatica, Cryptogamic Botany) of other such attempts that have failed. However, the plan to edit a new journal was based on several new ideas.
Book Reviews
(1999)
M. P. Marcelli & T. Ahti (eds.) 1998. Recollecting Edvard August Vainio. CETESB, Sao Paulo, 188 pp (A5). Price US$ 30.00 + postage US$ 14.00 = US$ 44.00.
M. P. Marcelli & M. R. D. Seaward (eds.) 1998. Lichenology in Latin America - history, current knowledge and application. CETESB, Sao Paulo, 179 pp (A4). Price US$ 40.00 + postage US$ 14.00 = US$ 54.00.
All specimens in BM labelled Phyllodon truncatus or P. truncatulus have been examined, together with two new Uganda collections, and all African species conform to the type of P. truncatus, and all American species conform to the type of P. truncatulus. Buck’s (1987) assessment of this genus is supported, and it is confirmed that P. truncatulus does not occur in Africa.
The effect of lichen extracts obtained from Cladonia substellata and its main constituent, on the germination and growth of onion (Allium cepa L.) seedlings was investigated. No significant inhibitory effect of the lichen extracts and usnic acid on germination was found, except of usnic acid at the concentration of 726.7 mM. Growth inhibition of the radicle and of the hypocotyl of the seedlings was found for the total extract and for usnic acid in concentrations of 290.6 mM and 726.7 mM.
Decomposing wood forms the substrate for special lignicolous, hygrophilous, and sciophilous plant communities. In a moist tropical forest, vegetation on this substrate consists mostly of bryophytes. The material gathered from Mt. Meru and the Usambara Mts. in Tanzania comprises 102 taxa or genera of bryophytes. Of these 86 taxa are mosses and 16 hepatics. They were collected from a number of rotten logs at different stages of decay both in primeval and in cultivated forests. The bryophyte vegetation on these logs was examined by use of quadrats 20 x 20 cm. A total of 71 taxa occurred in 51 plots.
Eight moss species corresponding to nomina nuda recorded in the literature from Annobon Island are listed with their recent determination and current names. Leucophanes unguiculatum, Philonotis uncinata var. glaucescens and Vesicularia strephomischos are new records for the Equatorial Guinean bryoflora.
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.
From the mist oasis of Erkwit (Red Sea coastal plain of Sudan) 25 epiphytic lichen taxa are reported, probably the first lichen floristic report for the country. Most species encountered are widespread in warm and dry areas worldwide, while a few have their center in the Mediterranean region and document a Mediterranean element in this tropical region.
Fifteen taxa of mosses are reported from the island of Rodrigues. The second African report of Luisierella barbula (Schwaegr.) Steere bridges the Asian and New World disjunctions of this taxon. Three other species are reported new to the Mascarenes, i.e., Calymperes tenerum C.Müller var. tenerum, Fissidens ramulosus Mitten and Weissia edentula Mitten. Three are new to Rodrigues, i.e., Bryum truncorum Bridel, Fissidens sciophyllus Mitten and Vesicularia ayresii (Schimper ex Besch.) Broth.
Despite its small area (7500 km2), the Valle de México is the site of high plant diversity. Its flora includes about 105 species and varieties of pleuocarpous mosses, i.e., 31% of the total recognized for Mexico. The Leucodontales include 22 taxa, the Hookeriales are represented by two species only, and the Hypnales by some 81 taxa. Because of their epiphytic habitat, the Leucodontales are comparatively scarce in the Valle de México; the Hookeriales usually grow in lowland, shaded moist tropical forests. The large and diverse Order Hypnales is a north temperate taxon which, in the tropical latitudes, is distributed at high elevations in open forests that are frequent in the area of study. Drepanocladus capillifolius and Hygroamblystegium fluviatile are recorded for the first time for Mexico.