Lembophyllaceae (Musci) in the tropics

Abstract

A TOTAL OF 20 GENERA HAVE BEEN INCLUDED IN THE LEMPOPHYLLACEAE DURING ITS HISTORY, YIELDING A DIVERSE AND WIDESPREAD FAMILY DISTRIBUTED IN TEMPERATURE AND TROPICAL AMERICA, SOUTH EAST ASIA. MELANESIA AND AUSTRALASIA. HOWEVER, RECENT CHANGES HAVE REDUCED THE GENERA TO FIVE: LEMBOPHYLLUM, CAMPTOCHAETE, AND ITS SEGREGATES FIFEA AND FULLACIELLU, AS WELL AS WEYMOUTHIA. THE RE-DEFINED LEMBOPHYLLACEAE ARE MAINLY MELANESIA-AUSTRALASIA IN DISTIBUTION WITH OCCURRENCES IN INDONESIA, SOUTHERN SOUTH AMERICA, AND HAWAII. THE RELATIONSHIPS OF THE FAMILY ARE NOW UNDERSTOOD TO BE HYPNACEAE-BRACHYTHECIACEAN RATHER THAN THAMNOBRYACEAN/NECKERACEAN AS PREVIOUSLY THOUHGT. THE FAMILY IS REPRESENTED IN THE TROPICS CHIEFLY BY CAMPTOCHAETE, A GENUS OF 10 SPECIES IN TWO SECTIONS. SIX SPECIES OCCUR IN INDONESIA, MELANESIA AND TROPICAL AUSTRALIA. ONE SPECIES OF LEMBOPHYLLUM OCCURS IN SUB-TROPICAL AUSTRALIA. RECENT TAXONOMIC REVISION HAS INCREASED OUR KNOWLEDGE OF TROPICAL LEMBOPHYLLACEAE AND RECENT COLLECTING HAS CONSIDERABLY EXPANDED THE RANGE OF CAMPTOCHAETE IN THE TROPICS.