A Checklist of the Mosses of Alaska

The previous catalog of mosses known from Alaska was published in 1902 and included 280 species and varieties. The present enumeration, compiled from published records, lists 601 taxa in 150 genera and 43 families. Bryological research in Alaska has had two periods of development. The first began with small collections made in the mid-nineteenth century, often by members of a general scientific expedition. By 1902 Cardot and Th~riot (1902) were able to list, in their enumeration of the mosses collected by the Harriman Expedition to coastal regions of Alaska, 280 species of mosses based upon their own collections and those of some ten previous reports. The 1913 Kelp Expedition, also primarily a coastal study, added an additional 55 taxa (Holzinger & Frye, 1921). R. S. Williams (1901, 1903, 1912, 1919), in studies primarily centered in the Yukon Territory, added several species. In 1914 Evans was able to report 105 hepatics from Alaska. (Worley (1970) gives a list of liverworts now known from Alaska.) During these early years many collections were made by nonbryologists and were usually from sites seldom far from the coast. A few, such as those by Hazen and Turner (1886) were made in the interior, but mountains and the Arctic were rarely investigated bryologically. From 1921 until the early 1940's there were few publications on Alaskan mosses. The field work of E. Hult~n in 1932 begins the second era of Alaskan bryology. Bartram (1938) reported the mosses collected from the south coastal regions by Hult6n and by W. J. Eyerdam, a long-time amateur collector of plants. It was, however, in the continuing accumulation of vascular-plant specimens from throughout Alaska by Hult~n that Herman Persson found the material for many years of bryophyte investigations. From herbarium sheets Persson located, separated, determined, and reported in a series of papers (many in THE BRYOLOGIST) the bryophytes that had accidentally been pressed along with the intended plants. From the 1940's to the present he also reported (often in joint authorship) the collections of a number of nonbryologists and bryologists from numerous, widespread Alaskan localities. Notable contributors have been E. Hult~n and Frbre E. Lepage who collected the first substantial arctic material, L. D. Stair and his daughter who collected in Yakutat Bay, and several important collections from the interior, especially the mountain ranges, by W. Weber, L. A. Viereck, H. T. Shacklette, E. M. Sherrard, O. Gjaerevoll, and others. Many of these workers have also published their findings separately. Persson also re-examined 1 We thank Dr. W. B. Schofield for advice throughout the preparation of this list and for financial assistance through the National Research Council of Canada. 2 Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. * Hattori Botanical Laboratory, Obi, Nichinan, Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan. This content downloaded from 207.46.13.111 on Tue, 09 Aug 2016 05:19:39 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 60 THE BRYOLOGIST [Volume 73 the Alaskan material in the Kindberg herbarium collected by J. Macoun. Other bryological investigations were made by R. Thomas at Iliamna Lake (1952), by A. M. Harvill from various Alaskan sites (1947a, 1947b, 1948, 1950), by Frye and Clark (1946) reporting on material from Attu Island, and by several other workers reporting in a variety of papers, notes, and monographs. During this period the gap in arctic studies was being filled by the research of W. C. Steere. His many trips to the Arctic brought the knowledge of Alaskan arctic bryophytes up to the level of most of the other regions in the state. Although never presenting a complete list of arctic Alaska mosses, Steere reported many new records in his numerous articles on the North American Arctic. Bryological studies in Alaska have now established the major floristic components, but many distributions are incomplete and a number of critical areas, especially certain mountain ranges and some coastal regions, need intensive study. Many species new to the state, and perhaps even to science, are certainly yet to be discovered (for example, the recent discoveries of Crumia deciduidentata (Sharp & Iwatsuki, 1969) and Pterigoneurum arcticum (Steere, 1959). Major collections in the last five years have been made by A. J. Sharp and Z. Iwatsuki in the Aleutian Islands and the Alexander Archipelago and by I. A. Worley in southeastern Alaska. There are also unpublished collections by F. J. Hermann and B. Neiland. Duplicates of some of the Hermann specimens have been distributed. The last published report attempting to list all known Alaskan mosses was made in 1902 (Cardot & Th6riot, 1902). Persson (1949) totaled, but did not list, the species of mosses from Alaska and the Yukon. His count of published and unpublished records of mosses was 27 Sphagna, 265 acrocarpous mosses, and 140 pleurocarpous mosses, making a total of 432 taxa. Since that time there have been numerous additions to the Alaskan flora. With the completion of E. Hult6n's Flora of Alaska and Neighboring Territories (1968), it was felt that an enumeration of the mosses now reported was due. The present list was compiled from the literature and includes 33 Sphagna, 354 acrocarpous mosses, and 214 pleurocarpous mosses-a total of 601 taxa. With few exceptions the synonymy of Crum, Steere and Anderson (1965) has been followed. For the treatment of the Mniaceae the revisions of Koponen (1968) have been utilized. No attempt has been made to verify determinations or species reports. Occasional entries are almost certainly misdeterminations; they are single reports of common species otherwise not known from the northwest Pacific region and have not been recollected in recent times. Examples of these include Polytrichum ohioensis, Ulota hutchinsiae and var. rufescens, and Cirrophyllum illecebrum. However, until the material is examined they have been retained in the list. When a taxon is known from Alaska from only one or two reports a reference is cited following the name of the taxon in the list. Subspecific taxa are a problem because many of the older ones, which have not been reported since the original typification, have never been reduced to synonymy, although it is clear that they should be. In general, we have omitted those which are excluded by Grout (1928--40) and by Crum, Steere, and Anderson (1965). Some names included are dubious as good taxa but they are retained pending further study. In the genus Sphagnum, with one exception, the list does not include varieties or subspecies. Grout, in the Moss Flora of North America (1928-40), gives without specimen citation the only Alaskan report for the following taxa: Polytrichum commune var. perigoniale, P. ohioense, Ditrichum pusillum, Ceratodon purpureus var. conicus, This content downloaded from 207.46.13.111 on Tue, 09 Aug 2016 05:19:39 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 1970] WORLEY & IWATSUKI: MOSSES OF ALASKA 61 Trematodon ambiguus, Oncophorus wahlenbergii var. compactus, Dicranum muhlenbeckii var. cirratum, Plagiobryum zierii, Amblyodon dealbatus, Anacolia menziesii, Philonotis fontana var. borealis, Zygodon rupestris, Hygrohypnum bestii, and H. luridum var. julaceum. Both Funaria hygrometrica var. arctica and F. microstoma var. obtusifolia appear in the list although Persson (1962a) considers that perhaps these records represent but one arctic taxon. Brotherella roellii has been reported from Kuiu Island by Harvill (1950). It is possible that this is actually an undescribed species of Brotherella known from British Columbia (Schofield, 1968). The Rhacomitrium heterostichum complex in western North America is currently under study by K. Banu of the University of British Columbia; her findings, soon to be reported, have not been incorporated in this paper. The list is presented by families in the order used by Crum, Steere, and Anderson (1965). THE LIST OF SPECIES