The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

Species

Fissidens berteroi

Etymology

Fissidens: From the Latin fissio 'fission' and dens 'tooth, prong' meaning split tooth and referring to shape of the lamina.

Common Name(s)

Moss

Current Conservation Status

2009 - Threatened - Nationally Vulnerable

Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2012 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS). This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2009 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Authors: Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, Paul D. Champion, Shannel P. Courtney, Peter B. Heenan, John W. Barkla, Ewen K. Cameron, David A. Norton and Rodney A. Hitchmough. File size: 792KB

Previous Conservation Status

2004 - Threatened - Nationally Endangered

Qualifiers

2009 - RR, TO

Authority

Fissidens berteroi (Mont.) Müll.Hal.

Family

Fissidentaceae

Flora Category

Non Vascular - Native

Structural Class

Moss

Synonyms

Conomitrium berteroi Mont.; Conomitrium muelleri Hampe; Fissidens muelleri (Hampe) Mitt.

Distribution

Indigenous. North, South and Chatham Islands - current records only from Kaipara (Tinopai), Auckland, Wairarapa (Masterton, Lake Wairarapa), Wellington and Chatham Islands (Rekohu and Rangiauria). Also in Australia and South America. Some very large populations have been discovered in Auckland City (2007, 2008) and Masterton (2007)

Features

Plants very large for the genus, on rock, wood, or concrete, submerged in flowing water, bright green; shoots soft, flexuous, forming tufts or mats, to 10 cm long, 10 mm wide, frequently branched; rhizoids at stem base, occasionally in leaf axils, and in one gathering copious on the distal part of the leaf lamina and there subtending plantlets; stems without central strand, axillary hyaline nodules weakly differentiated; leaves in many pairs, patent, distant, flaccid, shrunken when dry, 5-9 mm long, 0.5-0.9 mm wide; leaf apex acuminate; vaginant lamina 2/5-1/2 of leaf length, joined to near leaf margin; dorsal lamina 25- 35 cells wide opposite junction of vaginant lamina, failing before insertion; nerve green, indistinct, failing 15-40 cells before leaf apex, 45-60 microns wide at junction of vaginant lamina, tapering from there to nerve apex, in cross-section all cells thin-walled; leaf margins entire with occasional serrations, especially near leaf apex, unbordered except sometimes a very weak border on margin of lower third of vaginant lamina; laminae unistratose, cells of apical and dorsal lamina 5-6 sided in face view, thin-walled, smooth, increasing greatly in size from margin to nerve, (10-) 15-18(-22) x 9-12 microns in mid-lamina; cells of vaginant lamina similar. Paroicous. Perichaetia and perigonia adjacent in leaf axils, on very short shoots, with reduced leaves; setae 0.8-1.5 mm long; capsule cupulate, urn 0.8 mm long, exothecial cells c. 80 around perimeter; operculum with a very short, blunt, slightly oblique beak, less than ½ the length of the urn; peristome teeth short, 200-245 microns long, 50-70 microns wide at base, scarcely covering capsule mouth when moist, irregularly bifid for 2/3 or more of their length, some lacunate to near base, lamellae finely papillose on dorsal surface of tooth, variably so on ventral, prongs with oblique ridges, tips truncate or tapering; spores (16-)18-22(-25) microns, papillose; calyptra cucullate.

Fruiting

Fruits may be present throughout the year.

Propagation Technique

Difficult - should not be removed from the wild

Threats

Extremely vulnerable to changes in water levels, aeration and quality. Several populations have gone extinct over the last 100 years possibly due to change sin water quality, pollution levels and competition from weeds. However, despite this species large size it is easily overlooked and recent finds on the Chatham Islands suggest that it may yet prove to be more common than currently believed.

Endemic Taxon

No

Endemic Genus

No

Endemic Family

No

This page last updated on 7 Nov 2013