FloraOfNewZealand-Mosses-31-Fife-2017-Orthotric ...

The Orthotrichaceae are one of the largest and most diverse of moss families, with up to 27 genera and perhaps as many as 600 species worldwide. The plants are xerophytes and mostly grow on bark or on rock. The family is cosmopolitan in distribution, but most diverse in tropical and temperate regions. Regionally, many common species can be readily identified in the field by easily observed features, while others require detailed microscopic examination. Not all material can be named with confidence, particularly when sporophytes are absent. The Orthotrichaceae have undergone a great deal of systematic and taxonomic change in recent years. In the late twentieth century, the New Zealand Orthotrichaceae were studied in detail by world authorities in the family and the taxonomic revisions of many of our taxa by D.H. Vitt and the late Jette Lewinsky and their co-workers provide the foundation on which this treatment is based. Recent phylogenetic treatments (mostly by Goffinet and co-workers) support dividing the family into two subfamilies, each including two tribes. Some intra-familial relationships, particularly involving the smaller but sometimes critical genera, remain poorly understood despite the application of molecular methods. Seven genera (Leratia, Macrocoma, Macromitrium, Orthotrichum, Schlotheimia, Ulota, and Zygodon) and 40 species are accepted as occurring in N.Z., with the largest genera, Macromitrium and Orthotrichum, each including 12 species regionally.