Journal of Threatened
Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 June 2024 | 16(6): 25474–25477
ISSN 0974-7907
(Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8923.16.6.25474-25477
#8923 | Received 21 February 2024 | Final received 22 April 2024 |
Finally accepted 09 June 2024
Physcomitrium eurystomum Sendtn.
(Funariaceae): a rare species recorded for Assam,
India
Twinkle Chetia
1 & Himu
Roy 2
1,2 Department of Botany, Cotton
University, Guwahati, Assam 781001, India.
1 twinklechetia5@gmail.com
(corresponding author), 2 himu.roy@cottonuniversity.ac.in
Editor: D.K. Singh, Botanical Survey of India,
Lucknow, India. Date of publication: 26 June 2024
(online & print)
Citation: Chetia, T. & H. Roy (2024). Physcomitrium eurystomum
Sendtn. (Funariaceae): a
rare species recorded for Assam, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 16(6): 25474–25477. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8923.16.6.25474-25477
Copyright: © Chetia & Roy 2024. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and
distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the
author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: None.
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the Head of the
Department of Botany, Cotton University for providing laboratory facilities in
the completion of my work. I would also like to acknowledge Mr. Hemanta Kumar Das, library & information assistant,
Botanical Survey of India, Eastern Regional Centre, Shillong for his help in locating the
resources I needed to complete my study. I would like to extend my most sincere
thanks to Mr. Tridip Boruah, assistant professor, Department of Botany, Madhab Choudhury College, Barpeta, Assam and Dr Selim Mehmud, senior research officer, Department of Botany, Advanced Research
Centre, USTM, Meghalaya for their suggestions. In addition, authors are highly
grateful to the esteemed reviewers and the editorial team, JoTT for their insightful comments and suggestions in improving the quality
of the manuscript.
Abstract: In this study, distributional
record of the moss Physcomitrium eurystomum Sendtn. for
the state of Assam is established for the first time. Taxonomic description
and illustration of the same, based on specimens collected from Kamrup and Morigaon districts of
the state are provided.
Keywords: Collection, cotton, distribution,
exploration, flora, habitat, Indo-Burma hotspot, Kamrup,
moss, specimen.
The moss genus Physcomitrium (Brid.) Brid. (Funariales:
Funariaceae) has 80 species spread across wet and
cool areas of the world (Bansal & Srivastava 2017) and 13 species belonging
to this genus were reported from India (Dandotiya et
al. 2011). Eastern India and the Gangetic Plains have been reported to be home
to seven different species of this genus (Gangulee
1974). Six species within the genus were found in Eastern Himalaya and Punjab (Gangulee 1974; Lal 2005), followed by the Gangetic Plains and
western Himalaya with five species each (Gangulee
1974; Alam 2013; Schwarz 2016), four species from the
Western Ghats (Daniels 2010; Schwarz 2016; Bansal & Srivastava 2017). Five
species of the genus—Physcomitrium acuminatum, P. brevinervis,
P. japonicum, P. pulchellum, and P. repandum—were reported from the state of Assam (Dandotiya et al. 2011).
Physcomitrium eurystomum Sendtn.
was reported from eastern Himalaya by Lal (2005), but the precise location of
its occurrences was not specified. Manju et al. (2023) reported this rare
species from the Western Ghats of Kerala stated “It is
also known to occur in Lower Bengal and Assam in northeastern India and Parasnath Wildlife Sanctuary in Jharkhand in central India
(Saha & Singh 2020)”. However, Saha & Singh (2020) never reported the species from
Assam. In India, the species is known from Hoogli
& Burdwan in West Bengal, Kumaon in Uttarakhand (Gangulee 1974), Jharkhand (Saha
& Singh 2020), Kerala (Manju et al. 2023), Banswara
(Rana 2020), and Manipur (Dandotiya et al. 2011; Govindapyari et al. 2012; Asthana et al. 2021). Though
Schwarz (2016) listed this species from Assam, but without any specific
locality and literature or specimen reference. The present collection of Physcomitrium eurystomum
from the Cotton University campus and the vicinity of Chandubi
lake of Kamrup and Ahatguri
of Morigaon district of Assam, therefore, for the
first time authentically establishes its record from the state.
In the present communication,
detailed illustrated description of the species is provided with notes on its
habitat and distribution within and outside.
Materials and Methods
Extensive bryofloristic
exploration in the Kamrup district since 2020 till
2023 was conducted. The sporophyte-bearing plants of Physcomitrium
eurystomum were collected from the study area,
where these species grew abundantly from November to February. The specimens
were collected and field observations were recorded
based on the methodology provided by Glime (2017) and
digital photographs of the habit and habitat were taken using a digital camera
(Nikon, D-5600). The parts of the plant were dissected using a Stereo Zoom
dissecting microscope, and further study was carried out using compound light
microscope, and their size were measured using an Ocular micrometer (ERMA) by
calibrating with a known scale provided by a Stage micrometer (ERMA) to ensure
the accuracy of the measurement. Taxonomic literature (Rana 2020; Saha & Singh 2020; Manju et al. 2023) were consulted to
determine the identity of the species. Voucher specimens were prepared
following Glime & Wagner (2017). One set of the
specimens are kept in the Herbarium of the Department of Botany, University of
Delhi (DUH) and the duplicates in the Herbarium of the Department of Botany,
Cotton University.
Results
Taxonomic enumeration
Physcomitrium eurystomum Sendtn.,
Denkschr. Bayer Bot. Ges.
Regensburg 3: 142. 1841; Bansal & Alka Srivast., Caryologia 70(2): 121.
2017; Saha & D. Singh, Indian J. Forest. 43(4):
343. 2020.
Small moss, grows in groups or open tufts,
3–7 mm long, bright green when young, yellowish-green at maturity, and turns
light to dark brown in herbarium. Stems simple, short, erect, slender, base
with many rhizoids. Rhizoids brownish, few at older part of stem, many at leaf
base and ventral surface. Leaves frequently clustered at stem ends,
oblong-obovate, rosulate, erecto-patent to
erect-spreading when moist, shrunk when dry, larger at upper stems, 3.0–3.5 ×
1.0–1.4 mm, smaller at lower stems, 1.0–1.7 × 0.3–0.7 mm, acute or shortly
apiculate at apex; margins serrulate in the upper part, entire in the basal
part; apical-leaves 40–60 × 18–27 μm, median-leaves
35–70 × 20–25 μm, leaf cells hexagonal to
oblong-hexagonal to elliptic-hexagonal; basal cells large, 90–135 × 20–40 μm, rectangular; marginal cells sublinear, narrow
elongated, 140–150 × 10–12 μm; costa strong, slender,
yellowish, extending to the apex or short excurrent. Setae light yellowish to
yellowish-brown, 1600–1750 × 120–125 μm, somewhat flexuose, slender. Capsules subspherical,
short pyriform, green when young, reddish brown when mature, 1.1–1.3 × 0.9–1
mm, mouth wide, neck short; operculum rostellate,
conical convex, c. 0.8 mm in diameter; annuli narrow; peristome absent;
calyptra c. 2 mm, inflated-mitrate, long–rostrate,
conical, easily dropping off before the capsules reached their full maturity.
Spores irregularly spherical, spinulosely papillose,
blackish-brown, 26–32 μm in diameter.
Habitat: The species was observed in
shady, moist, muddy soil in association with grasses, and herbs.
Distribution: India [West Bengal (Hoogli, Burdwan), Uttarakhand (Kumaon)
(Gangulee 1974); Jharkhand (Parasnath
WS) (Saha & Singh 2020); Kerala (Iduki district) (Manju et al. 2023); Rajasthan (Banswara) (Rana 2020); Assam—present study; Manipur (Dandotiya et al. 2011; Govindapyari
et al. 2012; Asthana et al. 2021), Belarus (Maslovsky
2005), Bulgaria (Sabovljević et al. 2001), Hungary
(Papp et al. 2010), Great Britain (Hodgetts 2011), Montenegro (Stešević et al. 2020), Romania (Sabovljević
et al. 2001), Slovenia (Sabovljević et al. 2001), and
Turkey (Sabovljević et al. 2001).
Specimens examined: INDIA. Assam: Kamrup, Chandubi, 25.5070N,
91.22920E, 11 September 2021, T. Chetia
113 (DUH!, Herbarium of Department of Botany, Cotton University); Kamrup Metro, Cotton University, 26.186°N, 91.7500°E, 26 December 2022, T. Chetia
259 (DUH!, Herbarium of Department of Botany, Cotton University); Morigaon, Ahatguri Natua Gaon, 26.2657°N, 92.3160°E, 30 December 2022, T. Chetia & H. Roy 260 (Herbarium of Department of Botany,
Cotton University!).
For image
- - click here for full PDF
References
Alam, A. (2013). Moss flora of Western Himalayas,
India - An updated Checklist. Archive for Bryology 168: 1–28.
Asthana,
A.K., V. Sahu & V. Awasthi (2021). Diversity of mosses in some
underexplored regions of Manipur, Northeast India. Bryophyte Diversity and
Evolution 44(1): 22–47.
Bansal, P.
& A. Srivastava (2017). Sporophyte characterization and sporogenesis
in Physcomitrium eurystomum
Sendtn. (Bryophyta: Funariaceae).
Caryologia 70(2): 120–127.
Dandotiya, D., H. Govindapyari,
S. Suman & P.L. Uniyal (2011). Checklist of the bryophytes of
India. Archive for Bryology 88(1): 1–126.
Daniels,
A.E.D. (2010). Checklist of
the bryophytes of Tamil Nadu, India. Archive for Bryology 65: 1–117.
Gangulee, H.C. (1974). Mosses of Eastern India and
adjacent regions-A monograph. Fasc. 4. Funariales and
Eubryales. Calcutta, 1134 pp.
Glime, J.M. & D.H. Wagner (2017). Herbarium Methods and
Exchanges. Chapt. 3–1. In: Glime,
J. M. Bryophyte Ecology 3: 1–30.
Glime, J.M. (2017). Field Taxonomy and Collection
Methods. Chapt. 1-1. In Glime,
JM- Bryophyte Ecology 3: 1–22.
Govindapyari, H., P. Kumari,
Y.M. Bahuguna & P.L. Uniyal
(2012). Evaluation
of species richness of acrocarpous mosses in Imphal District, Manipur, India. Taiwania
57(1): 14–26.
Hodgetts,
N.G. (2011). A revised
Red List of bryophytes in Britain. Field bryology 103: 40–49.
Lal, J.
(2005). A
checklist of Indian mosses. Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Dehradun, 164 pp.
Manju, C.N.,
P.M. Vineesha, B. Mufeed
& K.P. Rajesh (2023). Physcomitrium eurystomum
Sendtn.(Funariaceae: Bryophyta) and Splachnobryum
obtusum (Brid.) Müll. Hal.(Splachnobryaceae: Bryophyta),
two rare moss species from the Western Ghats of Kerala. Journal of
Threatened Taxa 15(2): 22731–22736. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8353.15.2.22731-22736
Maslovsky, O. (2005). Rare and threatened bryophytes
and a proposal for an Eastern European Red Book. Boletín
de la sociedad Española de briología
(26): 47–54.
Papp, B., P. Erzberger, P. Ódor, Z. Hock, P. Szövényi, E. Szurdoki & Z. Tóth (2010). Updated checklist and red list of Hungarian
bryophytes. Studia Botanica Hungarica 41: 31–59.
Rana, S.
(2020). Genus Physcomitrium (brid.) Fuernr (bryophyta) in district Banswara of South Rajasthan. Plant Archives 2(2):
4697–4700.
Sabovljević, M., A. Ganeva,
E. Tsakiri & S. Ştefănuţ
(2001). Bryology and
bryophyte protection in south-eastern Europe. Biological Conservation
101(1): 73–84.
Saha, P. & D. Singh (2020). Physcomitrium
eurystomum (Bryophyta: Funariaceae)
- an addition to bryoflora of central India. Indian
Journal of Forestry 43(4): 341–344.
Schwarz, U.
(2016). Physcomitrium schummii
sp. nov. from Karnataka, India with a synopsis of the
Funariaceae in India. Frahmia
13: 1–19.
Stešević, D., B. Anđić
& M. Stanišić-Vujačić (2020). Physcomitrium
eurystomum Sendtn., a
new moss species in the bryophyte flora of Montenegro. Acta Botanica Croatica 79(1): 95–97.