A reassessment of the New Zealand endemic Plagiochila deltoidea (Plagiochilaceae, Marchantiophyta), a liverwort with sporophyte waxes
Variation within Plagiochila deltoidea
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7751/telopea18220Keywords:
geometric morphometrics, sporophyte, wax, variation, Liverwort, PlagiochilaAbstract
Plagiochila deltoidea Lindenb., contains three supported phylogenetic lineages, that are divergent to a degree consistent with separation among other Plagiochila species. However, morphological characters exhibit considerable amplitude of variation within, and overlap among, the three lineages. The extensive morphological overlap on the one hand, and the phylogenetic divergences and different morphological tendencies on the other complicate subdivision of Plagiochila deltoidea into taxa, of any rank, that reflect the phylogenetic diversity within the species as currently circumscribed. Plagiochila deltoidea is here reinterpreted as a single, variable species, with two varieties to accommodate different facets of lineage-correlated morphological variation. Plagiochila deltoidea var. densa J.J.Engel and G.L.Merr. is recognised for the lineage comprising individuals whose medial leaf cells tend to be narrower than in other lineages, and whose basal vitta is broader relative to the leaf insertion. This variety, like P. deltoidea var. deltoidea, is widespread throughout New Zealand, south from the Coromandel Range. Plagiochila deltoidea var. deltoidea is generally larger than P. deltoidea var. densa in terms of shoot stature, leaf size, and in the number of leaf teeth. A new species P. geminata M.A.M.Renner is separated from P. deltoidea to accommodate smaller plants with fewer teeth on the leaf margins, and more numerous short-triangular teeth on the perianth, from Northland, Auckland, and the Chatham Islands. Plagiochila geminata is reliably distinguished by its smaller size and widely spaced leaves, in addition to characters of the female bracts and perianth mouth. Distinguishing these taxa is challenging when informative characters, including perianths, are missing, or when specimens are poor and fragmentary. The recognition of P. geminata renders P. deltoidea paraphyletic, which likely reflects the fact that, even as re-circumscribed here, the varieties of P. deltoidea represent two cryptic species. The outer surfaces of the capsule valves of P. deltoidea var. deltoidea are water repellent and covered by platelet-like projections from a thin film that cracks and lifts irregularly, giving the capsule surface a ragged appearance. This film, the projections, and the water-repellent properties of the outer capsule surface are all removed by chloroform, consistent with their comprising waxes, in the broad sense of that term.
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