A New Species of Aulacopilum from Brazil

Aulacopilum schaeferi is described as a new species from Sdo Paulo, Brazil. Its differences from other American members of the section Aulacopilum and especially A. tumidulum Mitt. are enumerated. The Erpodiaceae of the various parts of the world were given preliminary notice in my paper of 1972, at which time I recognized six species of Aulacopilum, all of them rare and local. As I pointed out, some of the species show disjunct distributions suggestive of an original range dissected by continental drift. (Some of the species of Erpodium give similar evidence of ancient dispersals.) The genus Aulacopilum has subsequently been found, for the first time, in Brazil. Daniel Vital found A. tumidulum Mitt. in the state of Mato Grosso. Subsequently Alfons Schaefer-Verwimp found the genus in Sdio Paulo. Its features are such that I feel justified in describing it as new, while freely admitting that the species of the section Aulacopilum are not as distinctive as one might wish, but not so similar that I would care to "lump" them either. AULACOPILUM SCHAEFERI, sp. nov. (FIG. 1-6) Plantae parvae, opaco-virides, caulibus laxe pinnatis. Ramae siccae teretes, madidae plus minus complanatofoliatae. Folia oblongo-ovata, obtuse acuta vel rotundoobtusa, non apiculata, ecostata, cellulis superioribus laxe hexagonis, pluripapillosis, alaribus in seriebus paucis oblato-quadratis. Autoicum; folia perichaetialia late oblongo-ovata, acuta. Seta ca. 1 mm longa; capsula ca. 1 mm longa, anguste oblongo-cylindrica, basi anguste contracta; operculum breviter rostratum. Calyptra laevis, sulcis integerrimis. Plants small, dull, bluish-green, loosely pinnatebranched. Stems and branches horizontal, terete when dry, loosely complanate-foliate when moist. Branch leaves 0.5-0.6 mm long, broadly oblongovate, bluntly acute or obtuse to rounded-obtuse; costa none; upper cells 10-12 gm in diameter, hexagonal, thin-walled, with 5-6 papillae on both surfaces, the alar cells ? oblate-quadrate in a few rows. Ventral leaves smaller and narrower (0.3-0.4 mm long), ovate-lanceolate, acute or acuminate, obliquely inserted in two rows. Autoicous; perichaetial branches short; perichaetial leaves somewhat larger than stem and branch leaves, broadly oblong-ovate, acute. Setae ca. 1 mm long; capsules exserted, ca. 1 mm long, narrowly oblong-cylindric above a short, narrow neck; operculum shortly erectrostrate. Calyptra longer than the capsule, clasping the seta, twisted when young, deeply 8-ridged, the ridges entire and the cells smooth throughout. BRAZIL. "Sao Paulo, Serra Negra, im Stadtpark (Praqa), epiphytisch, ca. 950 m.s.m., 17.5.1986, Alfons SchaeferVerwimp 6967a" (holotype-MICH). This species is closely related to Aulacopilum tumidulum Mitt., but its leaves are bluntly pointed and not at all apiculate and its capsules are longer and oblong-cylindric from a short, narrow neck. The stems and branches are terete when dry because of erect, imbricate leaves (which become wide-spreading and loosely complanate when moist). Unlike other members of the section Aulacopilum, A. schaeferi has a smooth calyptra, with entire ridges. The genus consists of two sections. All three of the American species belong to the section Aulacopilum. The section Pseudo-Erpodium consists of a single species of Australia, A. hodgkinsoniae (C.M.) Broth. It has erect branches not complanate-foliate when moist; smooth, oblong-hexagonal leaf cells; and awned perichaetial leaves. The American species of the section Aulacopilum can be distinguished by the following key: 1. Leaves bluntly acute to rounded-obtuse, not at all apiculate; calyptrae smooth; Brazil A . SCHAEFERI C rum 1. Leaves acute, apiculate to shortly piliform; calyptrae lightly papillose throughout. 2. Leaves inconspicuously hyaline-apiculate; perichaetial leaves acute; capsules oblong-obovoid; Ceylon, Mexico, Brazil, and Paraguay ..... A . TU M ID U LU M M itt. 2. Leaves more obviously hyaline-apiculate to ? awned; perichaetial leaves lance-acuminate; capsules oblong-cylindric; Argentina and New Zealand A. GLAUCUM W ils.