Meesia uliginosa Hedw. (Musci, Meesiaceae) in Antarctica

• Published in: Cryptogamie Bryologie
• Main Authors: Ochyra, Ryszard, Smith, Ronald I. Lewis
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: 1999
• Subjects: Antarctic; The Antarctic; King George Island; South Shetland Islands; South Orkney Islands; Signy Island; Trinity Peninsula; Joinville; Kanda; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/503605/; https://doi.org/10.1016/S1290-0796(99)80002-9

Meesia uliginosa Hedw. and the family Meesiaceae are recorded for the first time in the Antarctic. The species is occasional on Joinville and James Ross Islands near the Trinity Peninsula, on Signy Island in the South Orkney Islands and on Livingston and Robert Islands in the South Shetland Islands, whereas on King George Island, in the latter archipelago, it is locally frequent. The Antarctic plants are briefly described and illustrated and the local distribution of the species on King George Island and in the maritime Antarctic is mapped. The ecological requirements of M. uliginosa in Antarctica are described in detail and the global geographical distribution of the species is reviewed. Ceratodon kinggeorgicus Kanda, a species originally described from King George Island, is considered to be conspecific with M. uliginosa.