A Check List of New Zealand Charophyta

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 84, 1956-57, Page 269

A Check List of New Zealand Charophyta By R Mason, Botany Division, D.S.I.R., Christchurch. [Received by the Editor, December 1, 1955] Abstract A list of 18 charophytes recorded in New Zealand is given, together with their distributions in New Zealand as at present known. Hooker, in the Handbook of the New Zealand Flora (1867) recorded five charophytes from New Zealand, and later Nordstedt (1880), in describing and recording those collected in 1874–75 by Berggren, brought the number up to twelve. Since then there have been a number of collections and a few other species have been recorded. The records, however, are not easily accessible to most New Zealand botanists. This paper, therefore, provides a list of all charophyte species and varieties for which there are known published records for New Zealand. Wood's list (1952) has for the most part been used in deciding the approved modern name. Under each accepted name is given the first record of a collection for New Zealand. This is under the heading “Original Collection” when it is the first record for the taxon. If there is further information there is also given the present known distribution for New Zealand as shown by published records and collections examined by the writer. It should be noted that where New Zealand or North Island is given in the first record it is sometimes clear, or highly probable, that only one or two collections were known, and in no case can such a name in a first record be safely taken as necessarily indicating a widespread distribution. Check List 1. Nitella conformis, Nordstedt. Original record: Nordstedt (1880: 18); Lake Pearson, Canterbury. 2. N. hookeri, Braun var hookeri Original record: Braun (1849: 199); New Zealand and Kerguelen Island. N.Z. Distribution: Widespread. N. hookeri, Braun, var. attenuata, Nordstedt. Original record: Nordstedt (1889: 14), Ohaewai. in Bay of Islands. N. hookeri, Braun, var. microcephala, Nordstedt Original record: Nordstedt (1880: 19); Otaua River, between Bay of Islands and Hokianga. 3. N. hyalina, (DC) Agardh var. novae-zelandiae, Braun Original record: Braun in Hochstetter (1863: 112); Lake Pupuke, Takapuna. N.Z. Distribution. Widespread. 4. N. leonhardii, Wood Original record: N. interrupta, Braun ex Leonhardi (1863: 146) as sp. ined. Presumably the specimens recorded by Leonhardi came from the Waikato River as they were collected by the Novara Expedition (Nordstedt 1880: 20), and the only specimens of this species collected by that expedition seem to be those of Jelinek, 1859, from the “Waikate River” (Braun and Nordstedt 1882: 93). N.Z. Distribution. North of latitude 39°, North Island In the Westport district. South Island.

5. N. leptosoma, Nordstedt Original record: Nordstedt (1880: 17); Omatangi, Taupo. 6. N. mucosa (Nordstedt) J. Groves. Original record: N. pseudoflabellata, Braun f. mucosa, Nordstedt; Nordstedt (1880: 16); Waitangi, Bay of Islands; Tauranga. N.Z. Distribution: North of latitude 38°, North Island. 7. N. stuartii, Braun First N.Z. record: Nordstedt (1888: 181); Tc Whau (Thames Goldfields). N.Z. Distribution: Thames District and near Kaitaia. 8. N. tricellularis, (Nordstedt) Nordstedt in T. F. Allen. Original Record: N. translucens (Pers.) Ag. subsp. tricellularis, Nordstedt; Nordstedt (1880: 15); Lake Pearson, Canterbury. N.Z. Distribution: Lakes in the region of the middle Waimakariri River. 9. Lamprothamnion macropogon, (Braun) Ophel First N.Z. record: Chara macropogon, Braun; J. Groves and G. O. Allen (1935–54); New Zealand. N.Z. Distribution: Wellington to Timaru, in coastal lagoons. 10. Chara australis, R. Br. var. australis First N.Z. record: C. australis, R. Br., Braun in Hooker (1860: 159°, New Zealand. This record precedes the recognition of the varieties of C. australis and should it prove to have been based on another variety described later (though there seems no reason to suppose it was), the first record for New Zealand of C. australis, var. australis will be. C. australis, R. Br. var. nobilis, Braun, Braun and Nordstedt (1882: 105); New Zealand. N.Z. Distribution: Widespread in the North Island. C. australis, R. Br. var. vieillardii, Braun First N.Z. record: Nordstedt (1889: 32); New Zealand. N.Z. Distribution: Possibly widespread. 11. C. braunii, Gmelin Only N.Z. record J. Groves (1924: 327); New Zealand. 12. C. contraria, Biaun ex Kutzing var. behriana, Braun First N. Z. record C. contraria Hooker (1867: 550); North Island. 13. C. fibrosa, Ag. ex Bruzelius subsp. gymnopitys, (Braun) Zaneveld var. acanthopitys (Braun) Zaneveld. First N.Z. record: C. benthami, Braun: Nordstedt (1880: 20); Lake Tarawera, Auckland Province. N.Z. Distribution: Lake Tarawera and northwards to Mangonui Country. Lake Ianthe, Lake Sarah, and Bruce Bay in the South Island. 14. C. globularis, Thuillier var. capillacea (Thuillier) Zaneveld First N.Z. record: C. fragilis, Desv.; Nordstedt (1880: 20); Lake Tarawera. N.Z. Distribution: Widespread. 15. C. vulgaris, Vaillant ex Linnaeus. First N.Z. record C. foetida, Braun; Hooker (1867: 550); North Island. Apparently this record is based on one poor specimen scarcely determinable with certainty, Braun and Nordstedt (1882: 162). Literature Consulted Ailen, G. O., 1953. Typification of Nitella pseudoflabellata, A. Braun. Ann. & Mag. of Nat. Hist. 6 (68): 606–608. Braun, A., 1849. Charae Australes et Antarcicate. Hookers Journ. Bot. and Kew Garden Misc. 1: 193–203. —— 1852. Plantae Muellerianae. Linnaea 25: 704–709.

——, and Nordstedt, O., 1882. Fragmente einer Monographic der Characeen. Abh. Kön. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1–211. Groves, J., 1924. Notes on Indian Charophyta. Journ. Linn. Soc. London (Bot.) 46: 359–376. —— and Allen, G. O., 1935. A Review of the Queensland Charophyta. Proc. Royal Soc. Queensland 46: 34–59. Hochstetter, F. von, 1863. Neu-Seeland. Stuttgart. Hooker, J. D., 1860. The Botany of the Antarctic Voyage of H. M. Discovery Ships Erebus and Terror, in the Years 1839–1843, Part III. Flora Tasmaniae Vol. II. —— 1867. Handbook of the New Zealand Flora. London. * Not seen, reference taken from quotations in Zaneveld and from Nordstedt, 1880. Leonhardi, H. F. von, 1863. Weitere Characeen-Fundorte. Lotos 13: 129–132; 145–148. Nordstedt, O., 1880. De Algis et Characeis. 2. Characeae Novae Zeelandiae. Act. Univ. Lundens. 16: 15–20. —— 1888. Einige Characeenbestimmungen, Hedwigia 7 (8): 182–196. —— 1891. Australasian Characeae. Part I, Lund. —— 1918. Australasian Characeae. Proc. Royal Soc. Victoria, n. s. 31(1): 1–6. —— 1889. De Algis et Characeis. 3–6. Act. Univ. Lundens. 25: 2–41. Wood, R. D., 1952. The Characeae. Bot. Review. 18(5): 317–353. Zaneveld, J. S., 1940. The Charophyta of Malaysia and adjacent Countries. Blumea 4(1): 1–223. Miss R. Mason, B. A, M. Sc, Botany Division, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, P.O. Box 2015, Christchurch.