Hyophila involuta
Common names
moss
Biostatus
Native
Current conservation status
This is the first complete assessment of all known species of mosses found in the wild in Aotearoa New Zealand with a total of 560 species being assessed. The conservation status of mosses, published in the NZTCS database, replaces all previous assessments of mosses. Data supporting the 2025 NZTCS assessment of mosses has been published on the NZTCS database at https://nztcs.org.nz/reports/1155.
Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2025 | Data Deficient | Qualifiers: SO
Category
Non-vascular
Structural class
Mosses
Detailed description
Tufted, dark green moss, tufts dark green above, reddish below. Stems erect, 1.0-1.5 mm tall, radiculose below, uniformly foliate. Leaves contorted when dry, widely spreading when moist, up to 3 x 1 mm, oblong-lingulate, concave, from a clasping base, blunt at apex; margins strongly involute when dry, erect or lightly inflexed when moist, denticulate toward apex; costa strong, tapering, smooth, percurrent, upper cells rounded, slightly incrassate, lightly papillose, basalt cells rectangular, pellucid, shorter and subquadrate toward margins. Seta 10-15 mm tall, red below, paler above, capsule cylindric, erect or slightly curved, urn 2-3 mm long; peristome none; annulus of one row of cells; lid conic-rostrate, 0.8 mm long; calyptra cucullate, extending nearly to base of urn, spirally twisted; spores smooth 7-10 µm diameter (n/b fruiting material not seen in Kermadec material).
Distribution
Indigenous. Kermadec Islands (Raoul Island). Widespread throughout the tropical islands of the Pacific Ocean, Central and northern South America, U.S.A., China, Indochina, Nepal, India, Africa, Indonesia, Malesia, and New Guinea.
Habitat
Known from one gathering made in May 2009 from a rotting log lying at the base of a steep, flood prone ravine on Raoul island.
Threats
Hyophila involuta was collected from Raoul Island, Ravine Eight in May 2009. At the time it was collected the gathering was part of a much larger sampling of a range of mosses and liverworts growing on a rotting log. Since then Raoul Island has been seriously damaged by Cyclone Bune (struck Raoul on March 28 2011) and many of the ravine systems, including Ravine Eight have been seriously damaged by flooding. During the May 2011 Kermadec Biodiscovery Expedition Ravine Eight was not surveyed, and the species was not present on other moss gatherings made from elsewhere on the island so the status of Hyophila involuta remains uncertain. For this reason it is recommended it be listed as “Data Deficient OL, SO”.
Detailed taxonomy
Genus
Family
Endemic taxon
No
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Fruiting
Fruiting material not known from New Zealand
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Bartram, E.D. 1939: Mosses of the Philippines. The Philipine Journal of Science 68: 1-437.
Attribution
Fact Sheet Prepared for NZPCN by: P.J. de Lange 1 July 2011. Description from Bartram (1939).