Classification
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Tayloria purpurascens (Hook.f. & Wilson) Broth., Nat. Pflanzenfam. [Engler & Prantl] 1(3), 502 (1903)
Synonymy:
  • Splachnum purpurascens Hook.f. & Wilson, London J. Bot. 3: 539 (1844)
  • Dissodon purpurascens (Hook.f. & Wilson) Müll.Hal., Syn. Musc. Frond. 2, 550 (1851)
  • Eremodon purpurascens (Hook.f. & Wilson) Hook.f. & Wilson, Bot. Antarct. Voy. II (Fl. Nov.-Zel.) Part II, 94 (1854)
Lectotype: Campbell's Island, in moist bogs, amongst grasses, altitude 1000 ft., J.D. Hooker, BM! (Designated by Goffinet 2006.) Isolectotypes: BM-K!
  • = Splachnum purpurascens var. minor Hook.f. & Wilson, Bot. Antarct. Voy. I. (Fl. Antarct.) Part I, 123 (1845)
Holotype: Auckland Islands, J.D. Hooker, ("Wilson no. 53"), BM! Isotypes: BM!, BM-K!
  • = Dissodon purpureus Müll.Hal., Gen. Musc. Frond. 124 (1900)
Type: N.Z.: near Greymouth, R. Helms, 1888, H-Br!
Etymology:
The epithet purpurascens means becoming purple.
 Description

Plants variable in size, bright green to bright red-purple. Stems unbranched, typically 15–30 μm, beset with red-brown, smooth rhizoids. Leaves erect- to wide-spreading and nearly plane when moist, more erect and crisped when dry, becoming ± larger toward stem apex, broadly obovate, rather abruptly tapered to a reflexed or squarrose apiculus (0.5–0.9 mm long in well-developed leaves), plane or weakly recurved at margins, entire or weakly and obtusely toothed above, (2.3–)2.5–3.3 × (1.0–)1.5–2.0(–2.5) mm (exclusive of apiculus; leaves of male plants usually narrower than those of female plants); upper laminal cells thin-walled, weakly porose, oblong-hexagonal, in upper third c. (60–)75–105 μm, often becoming shorter towards the margins, arranged in ill-defined diagonal files, becoming longer and more oblong below. Costa rather ill-defined and stout, c. 100 μm wide at ⅓ above leaf base, dilated below, usually ending below the base of the apiculus. Axillary hairs inconspicuous.

Dioicous. Perichaetial leaves not differentiated. Perigonia terminal, ± globose, with ovate-lanceolate, widely-spreading bracts surrounding many antheridia intermixed with filiform, 6–7-celled paraphyses. Setae 10–15(–25) mm, straight, smooth, c. 300 μm diam., not twisted when dry, orange to red-purple; capsules erect, narrowly ellipsoid, with a tapering neck ⅓ –½ the total capsule length, c. 3.5–6 mm long, dark purple-brown or chestnut; exothecial cells oblate, very thick-walled, in ill-defined ranks; columella not or rarely protruding; stomata restricted to a narrow band at top of the neck; annulus weakly differentiated, apparently falling with the operculum; operculum rounded-conic. Peristome teeth inserted below the mouth, incurved or erect when dry, pale yellow- or red-brown, paired and longitudinally fused to form eight compound teeth, each pair broadly triangular and extending c. 175–200 μm beyond the mouth, c. 140 μm wide, finely and irregularly striolate on outer surface, sometimes ± vertically striolate above; preperistome not seen. Calyptra as per genus, 1.3–1.7 mm. Spores ± globose, 9–12 μm diam., smooth.

 Illustrations

Wilson & Hooker 1845, tab. LVII, fig. v (as Splachnum purpurascens); Goffinet 2006, fig. 17 e–g.

 Recognition

Tayloria purpurascens varies markedly with respect to stature, pigmentation, and to a lesser degree, leaf form. Occasional forms occur with little or no secondary pigmentation, and leaf apiculi more strongly developed that usual, which could be confused with T. octoblepharum. The generally more obovate leaf form, non-excurrent costa, the reflexion of the apiculus, and the lack of salmon-pink pigmentation in the costa base are usually sufficient to permit its recognition, even in the absence of capsules. Perigonial bracts are considerably more ovate-lanceolate than the vegetative or perichaetial leaves, but they are erect-spreading, rather than rigidly erect as in T. callophylla.

There is a tendency for material from the subantarctic islands to have leaves which are less markedly obovate, and lurid rather than purple. Hooker 53 (from the Auckland Is), the type of "var. minor", and C. Meurk s.n., 13 Feb. 1971 (from Campbell I.) are examples of this expression, which is not deemed worthy of taxonomic recognition.

 Distribution

NI: S Auckland (Taupō), Gisborne (Lake Waikaremoana), Taranaki (single unlocalised collection), Wellington; SI: Nelson, Marlborough, Canterbury, Westland, Otago, Southland; St; Ch; Sn; A; Ant; C.

Probably endemic. Recorded from mainland Australia by Goffinet (2006) on the basis of a single poorly documented N.S.W. collection.

 Habitat

Occurring in a wide variety of vegetation types, including Leptospermum/Kunzea scrub, southern beech forest, broadleaved forest, and pākihi. It occurs on faeces of both herbivores (cattle, goats, etc.) and carnivores, and on decayed carcasses. A large fraction of collections are recorded from humus (on ledges, stumps, etc) and fail to mention the presence of dung; this is probably due to an advanced state of faecal decomposition. Often growing mixed with T. octoblepharum. It has an altitudinal range from near sea level (at least on South I. and subantarctic islands) to c. 1800 m (Travers Saddle, Nelson L.D.), but appears to be less frequent in the alpine zone than at lower elevations.

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
 Notes

The only specimen seen from Taranaki is an unlocalised collection made by Miss J. Heywood in Feb. 1915 (BM). A possible Hawke's Bay specimen was collected by Sainsbury at Waimarino (BM). No material from Tasmania or mainland Australia has been seen.

 Bibliography
Brotherus, V.F. 1901–1909: Musci (Laubmoose) II Specieller Teil. In: Engler, A.; Prantl, K. (ed.) Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien. Teil 1. Abt. 3. Engelmann, Leipzig. 277–1246.
Fife, A.J. 2015: Splachnaceae. In: Heenan, P.B.; Breitwieser, I.; Wilton, A.D. (ed.) Flora of New Zealand — Mosses. Fascicle 18. Manaaki Whenua Press, Lincoln.
Goffinet, B. 2006: Splachnaceae. In: McCarthy, P.M. (ed.) Flora of Australia. Vol. 51 Mosses 1. ABRS, Canberra. 173–181.
Hooker, J.D.; Wilson, W. 1844: Musci Antarctici; being characters with brief descriptions of the new species of mosses discovered during the voyage of H.M. Discovery ships, Erebus and Terror, in the southern circumpolar regions, together with those of Tasmania and New Zealand. London Journal of Botany 3: 533–556. [Oct. 1844]
Müller, C. 1850–1851: Synopsis Muscorum Frondosorum omnium hucusque cognitorum. Vol. 2. Foerstner, Berlin.
Müller, C. 1900 ("1901"): Genera Muscorum Frondosorum. Kummer, Leipzig.
Wilson, W. 1854 ("1855"): Musci. In: Hooker, J.D. The Botany of the Antarctic Voyage of H.M. Discovery Ships Erebus and Terror, in the years 1839–1843, under the command of Captain Sir James Clark Ross. II. Flora Novae-Zelandiae. Part II. Flowerless plants. Lovell Reeve, London. 57–125.
Wilson, W.; Hooker, J.D. 1845 ("1847"): Musci. In: Hooker, J.D. The Botany of the Antarctic Voyage of H.M. Discovery Ships Erebus and Terror in the Years 1839–1843, under the command of Captain Sir James Clark Ross. I. Flora Antarctica. Part I. Botany of Lord Auckland’s Group and Campbell’s Island. Reeve, Brothers, London. 117–143.