FloraOfNewZealand-Mosses-41-Fife-2018-Leskeaceae

The Leskeaceae are a large family mostly distributed in the northern hemisphere and allied to the Thuidiaceae. Erect capsules and reduced endostomes are features of the family, of which two genera, Lindbergia and Pseudoleskea, are recorded from New Zealand. Lindbergia is a modest-sized genus of predominantly bark-inhabiting species. Its N.Z. representative, L. maritima, occurs on coastal rock, an anomalous substrate for a member of the genus. It is a critically threatened endemic species known only from the Waitakere Ranges coast in North Auckland L.D. The small but carefully documented population of this species is subject to damage from storm wave action and may be on the verge of extinction. The second genus, Pseudoleskea, is also represented by a single species. Pseudoleskea imbricata is an elegant species, widespread in N.Z. and Australia, which occurs mostly on calcareous or cation-rich rocks.