Lejeunea subelobata Carrington & Pearson, Proc.

Renner, M. A., de, Lange P. J. & Glenny, D. S., 2021, A synopsis of Aotearoa / New Zealand Lejeunea (Lejeuneaceae: Jungermanniopsida) and new species in the Lejeunea epiphylla Colenso complex, Arctoa 30 (2), pp. 187-212 : 206

19. Lejeunea subelobata Carrington & Pearson, Proc.

Linn. Soc. of New South Wales, ser. 2 2: 1039. 1888.

Original material: hab. – On wet rocks, George’s Riv- er, Botany Bay, Janry., 1885 (47); George’s River, Botany Bay, Janry., 1885 (42).

Type: Australia, New South Wales, near Sydney, Ball’s Head Bay , Jun.1885, leg. Whitelegge no. 47 (lectotype designated by Grolle (1982): BM – 3 packets; isolectotypes: JE, G-19832, MANCH) .

Lejeunea subelobata occurs in Tasmania and along the east Australian coast at least as far north as Sydney, where it is a frequent lithophyte on damp rock, usually in association with waterways. In New Zealand L. subelobata is also most frequently encountered as a lithophyte within waterways, but may also grow on rotting wood. The species was accepted as distinct from L. drummondii Taylor by Renner (2013b) on the basis of morphological evidence. The molecular evidence cited from Renner et al. (2011) is based on a mis-labelled sample of what was actually L. gracilipes . This makes the relationships resolved for ‘ L. subelobata ’ more sensical, given that L. subelobata has smooth leaf lobe cell surfaces and numerous small fusiform oil-bodies arranged in a submarginal ring, suggesting it is a member the other major lineage within Lejeunea evidently circumscribed by these characters. The major lineage to which L. gracilipes belongs is circumscribed by a granular leaf lobe cell surface, and 4–7 larger granular oil-bodies per cell as in, for example, L. gracilipes and L. flava . This has no significant impact on the inference of separate species status for L. drummondii and L. subelobata , which remains supported by the morphological differences described in Renner (2013b). Lejeunea subelobata is distinctive in the dark green colour, and the lobules which are almost exclusively explanate, in addition to the occurrence in association with waterways in New Zealand.