Notocynodontium parvulum, a new genus and species of the Rhabdoweisiaceae (Bryophyta: Dicranidae) from southern South America

Abstract

We describe the new species Notocynodontium parvulum, in the new genus Notocynodontium, to accommodate a distinct taxon recently found in two widely separated localities in central Chile and the Falkland Islands. Although morphologically reduced, preliminary molecular data indicate that the taxon belongs to the Rhabdoweisiaceae. The combination of minute plants with erect to slightly flexuose leaves, prorulose upper laminal cells, wide costa with scarce internal cell differentiation, variously recurved, bistratose leaf margins, stems without sclerodermis, and the erect, gymnostomous, smooth and oval capsules, is a unique combination of characters within the family. We provide illustrations and a distribution map for this remarkable new taxon, as well as an overview of the current systematic knowledge of the Rhabdoweisiaceae..