Zygodon rufescens
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 | Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable | Qualifiers: Sp, DPR, DPS, DPT
Category
Non-vascular
Structural class
Mosses
Detailed description
Corticolous, densely tufted moss. Plants olive-green above, dull red below. Stems simple or dichotomously branched, up to 20 mm tall, more or less radiculose below with red tomentum. Brood bodies clavate, with traverse and longitudinal walls. Leaves c.2 mm long, often crisped when dry, squarrosely spreading when moist, lanceolate, very long and sharply acute; shortly decurrent, entire of finely crenulate through projecting papillae, with plane margins. Nerve failing below apex, usually finely rugose on the underside. Upper cells 8-10 microns, rounded and angled, incrassate, papillose; those at the base rectangular, hyaline, smooth, thin-walled. Sex organs and sporophyte unknown.
Distribution
Indigenous. ?Worldwide. In New Zealand known from the North Island from scattered sites across the eastern Central Volcanic Plateau, Kaingaroa Plain and near Taupo, and in the southern South Island
Substrate details
Corticolous on the bark of Leptospermum scoparium J.R.Forst. et. G.Forst. and other small trees in frost flats.
Threats
An apparently naturally uncommon, biologically sparse species in New Zealand.
Detailed taxonomy
Genus
Family
Endemic taxon
No
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Fruiting
Fruits not known
Other information
Previous conservation statuses
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.
2014 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: DP, SO, Sp
2010 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: SO, Sp
2005 | Sparse | Qualifiers: SO