Bull. Natl. Mus. Nat. Sci., Ser. B, 40(1), pp. 15–17, February 20, 2014

Symphyodon perrottetii (Symphyodontaceae, Bryophyta)
New to Hawaii
Masanobu Higuchi
Department of Botany, National Museum of Nature and Science,
Amakubo 4–1–1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305–0005, Japan
E-mail: higuchi@kahaku.go.jp(Received 4 December 2013; accepted 18 December 2013)

Abstract Symphyodon perrottetii Mont. is reported as new to Hawaii. The description and illustration based on Hawaiian plants are given. This species is characterized by its large plants anddistinctly serrate leaf margins. It has been known from South and Southeast Asia. The range of thespecies extends eastward to Hawaii.
Key words : bryophytes, Hawaii, Symphyodon perrottetii.

The genus Symphyodon is a pleurocarpous
moss of the family Symphyodontaceae, being
mainly distributed in South and Southeast Asia.
The genus is characterized by echinate capsules,
papillose setae, prorate laminal cells of leaves
and more or less differentiated alar cells ofleaves. He and Snider (2000) revised the genus
and recognized 15 species in the world. Symphyodon perrottetii Mont., the type species of thegenus, is widely distributed in South and Southeast Asia and north to the southern part of Japan.
In June 1999, the author collected a Symphyodon in Hawaii Island, Hawaii. A microscopic
examination conﬁrmed that the plants are Symphyodon perrottetii Mont., although they weresterile.
Symphyodon perrottetii Mont., Ann. Sci. Nat.
Bot., ser. 2, 16: 279. 1841.
(Figs. 1, 2)
The following description is based on theHawaiian plants.
Plants large for the genus, yellowish- tobrownish-green, yellowish-brown below. Stems
prostrate, sometimes pendulous, up to 9 cm long,irregularly or pinnately, rarely bipinnately bran-ched, elliptical in cross-section; central strandabsent; leafy stems complanate to subjulaceous;branched subjulaceous, irregular in length, up to
1 cm long. Pseudoparaphyllia foliose, roundtriangular, scale-like. Stem leaves slightly differentiated; dorsal leaves straight, oblong-ovate tooblong-lanceolate, broadly acuminate at apices,
subcordate at bases, 1.1–1.3×0.4–0.5 mm; margins distinctly serrate above, subentire below,plane, recurved at base; costae double, long, ca.
1/4–1/3 the leaf length, usually united at bases;
median laminal cells linear, weakly ﬂexuose,
48–64×3–4 µm in lumen, thin-walled, slightly
prorate at upper ends; alar cells differentiated,
subquadrate to rectangular. Lateral leaves usuallyslightly falcate, concave. Branch leaves smaller;
serration of upper margins and proration of laminal cells more distinct. Perichaetia sparsely present at leaf axils on the basal part of stem. Outer
perichaetial leaves ovate, narrowed to reﬂexed
apices. Inner perichaetial leaves ovate; laminalcells thick-walled.
Male sexual organs and sporophytes absent.
Specimens examined. Hawaii. Hawaii Island,South Kohara District, Kohara Mts., Puu O Umi

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Masanobu Higuchi

Fig. 1. Symphyodon perrottetii Mont. (Higuchi 33963). 1. Plant. Scale＝1 mm. 2. Stem leaf. 3. Branch leaves. 4.
Apical part of branch leaf. 5. Alar part of branch leaf.

Natural Area Reserve, Upper Hamakua Ditch
Trail, 1150 m alt., on iron water pipe, June 11,
1999, coll. M. Higuchi 33949 (TNS, BISH); on
branch of Cryptomeria japonica, coll. M. Higuchi 33963 (TNS, BISH); 1160 m alt., on shrub,June 9, 1999, coll. M. Higuchi 33868 (TNS,BISH);
Distribution. China, Japan, India, Sri Lanka,
Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Singapore and the Philippines (cf. He and Snider,2000). New to Hawaii.
Symphyodon perrottetii is characterized by (1)large plants (Fig. 1: 1), (2) distinctly serrate leaf
margins (Figs. 1: 4, 2: 4) and (3) differentiatedalar cells (Figs. 1: 5, 2: 5). A specimen (Higuchi33868) cited above has stems with a few
branches, narrower stem and branch leaves andalmost smooth laminal cells of branch leaf (Fig.
2).

Symphyodon pygmaeus (Broth.) He & Snider
has been disjunctively known from Hawaii,
while it is distributed in China, Nepal, India,Thailand, Madagascar, Réunion and Mozambique (He and Snider, 2000; Staples et al., 2004).
I examined an isotype of Glossadelphus abortivapicus, one of synonyms of S. pygmaeus, kept
in the herbarium of the National Museum of
Nature and Science (TNS) and found that S. pygmaeus differs from S. perrottetii by its round totruncate leaf apices.
Symphyodon perrottetii grows on branches inSouth and Southeast Asia (He and Snider, 2000)
and it also grows on twigs in Japan where is thenorthern limit of the species (Ando and Seki,1962; Iwatsuki, 1970; Higuchi and Nishimura,2001). The species was growing on the branchesof Cryptomeria japonica and iron water pipe
about 1100 m above sea level in Hawaii Island
where it is much humid.

Symphyodon perrottetii New to Hawaii

17Fig. 2. Symphyodon perrottetii Mont. (Higuchi 33868). 1. Plant. Scale＝1 mm. 2. Stem leaf. 3. Branch leaf. 4.
Apical part of branch leaf. 5. Alar part of branch leaf.

Acknowledgments
I wish to express my sincere thanks to Dr. H.
Kashiwadani of the National Museum of Natureand Science for giving the opportunity to join theﬁeld research and Prof. C. W. Smith of University of Hawaii for his kind help in the ﬁeldresearch.
References
Ando, H. and Seki, T. 1962. A remarkable range extension of Symphyodon perrottetii Mont. Hikobia 3:80–85.
He, S. and Snider, J. A. 2000. A taxonomic revision ofSymphyodon (Musci: Symphyodontaceae). Bryologist
103: 52–81.
Higuchi, M. and Nishimura, N. 2001. Mosses of Mikurajima Island, Izu Islands, central Japan. Memoirs of
National Science Museum, Tokyo, 37: 125–139 (inJapanese).
Iwatsuki, Z. 1970. Wakayamaken nanbu de saishu shitakyomi aru senrui. Mie Kokenokai News 4: 9–11 (inJapanese).
Staples, G. W., Imada, C. T., Hoe, W. J. and Smith, C. W.
2004. A revised checklist of Hawaiian mosses. Tropical
Bryology 25: 35–69.