Lindbergia maritima
Common name
Moss
Synonyms
None (first described in 1977)
Family
Leskeaceae
Flora category
Non-vascular – Native
Current conservation status
- Conservation status of New Zealand mosses, 2014 (PDF, 583.87 kB)
The conservation status of 109 New Zealand moss taxa was assessed using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS). Four taxa and one undescribed entity that were not included in previous assessments have been added to the list. The conservation status of only two taxa has changed in this assessment. A full list is presented, along with a statistical summary and brief notes on the changes. This list replaces all previous NZTCS lists for mosses. Authors: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Allan J. Fife, Jessica E. Beever, Patrick J. Brownsey and Rodney A. Hitchmough.
- Conservation status of New Zealand hornworts and liverworts, 2014 (PDF, 695.44 kB)
The conservation status of the New Zealand hornwort and liverwort flora is reassessed using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS). A full list is presented, along with a statistical summary and brief notes on the most important changes. This list replaces all previous NZTCS lists for New Zealand hornworts and liverworts which previously had been part of a generic bryophyte conservation status assessment that included mosses. Authors: Peter J. de Lange, David Glenny, John Braggins, Matt Renner, Matt von Konrat, John Engel, Catherine Reeb and Jeremy Rolfe.
Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2009 | Threatened – Nationally Critical | Qualifiers: OL
Distribution
Endemic. North Island, Waitakere Coast
Detailed description
Diminutive, coastal. saxicolous, gracile moss, forming loose dull dark green or brownish, rigid mats. Stems 10-15 mm tall, irregularly branched, without a central strand; paraphyllia and pseudoparaphyllia lacking. Leaves appressed when dry, spreading when moist, somewhat concave; lamina 0.2-0.3 x 0.4-0.6 mm, lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, acute to rounded; leaf margin plane, entire, more or less dentate near the apex, nerve fairly strong, ending below leaf apex in cross-section with uniform cells; cells rounded quadrate or hexagonal, 4.8-9.1 microns, strongly papillose on both surfaces with one unbranched papilla on each side of the cells; basal cells rounded and partly covering each other in many longitudinal rows. Vegetative propagation by brood-branchlets in axillary clusters from the stem apices; leaves bluntly papillose with distinctly toothed margins. Sex organs and sporophytes unknown.
Fruiting
Fruits not known
Threats
At imminent risk of extinction. Only one population is known and this has declined markedly since it was discovered in 1974. The exact reason for the decline is not clear but it may in part be due to associated vegetation changes allowing the moss habitat to become more exposed to wave action and wind.
Substrate
Saxicolous on andesitic breccia just above high tide mark
Etymology
maritima: From the Latin mare ‘sea’, meaning growing on the sea shore
Attribution
Fact Sheet prepared by P.J. de Lange 5 November 2007. Description from Lewinsky (1977).
References and further reading
Lewinsky, J. 1977. Lindbergia maritima, a new moss species from New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 15(2): 193-195. DOI: 10.1080/0028825X.1977.10432542
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Lindbergia maritima Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/lindbergia-maritima/ (Date website was queried)