Checklist of hornworts and liverworts of Fiji

Abstract

The first checklist of liverworts and hornworts is provided for the Republic of Fiji. Geographic coverage includes the islands Viti Levu, Vanua Levu, Taveuni, Kadavu, and Ovalau and surrounding smaller islands. There remain many localities in Fiji, including entire islands, which have never or scarcely been collected for this group of plants. We report 11 hornwort taxa and 280 liverwort taxa. An additional 34 taxa previously reported from Fiji are either rejected or noted as doubtful records. The list is based on a compilation of over 250 literature references, including monographs, broader regional studies and molecular investigations. Despite its apparent diversity, the liverwort and hornwort flora of Fiji has received negligible attention, and few publications exist that have focused solely on this group of islands. Knowledge of the liverwort and hornwort flora, of Fiji and regionally for the islands of the South Pacific, remains too poor to reliably comment about range-restricted or endemic species. New records will undoubtedly be reported, of regionally widespread species as well as species likely new to science. A number of the taxa presented here may be synonyms of other taxa as they are poorly known taxonomically. The combination, Frullania parhamii (R.M. Schust.) R.M. Schust. ex von Konrat, L.Söderstr. et A. Hagborg, is made replacing a previously invalid combination.© 2011 Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust. © 2011 Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust.