editorial

The evidence for applying the European name C. pyriformis (Schultz) Brid. [Bryol. Univ. 1: 471 (1826)] to N.Z. material is not convincing. The application of this name by several authors in Australasia dates from a brief publication by Corley & Frahm (1982). That publication outlined some confusion around the type of the basionym (Dicranum pyriforme Schultz) and confusingly stated that material described from the Azores as C. azoricus Mitt. “must be regarded as the typical form of C. pyriformis”. Corley & Frahm placed the Australasian C. pallidus Hook.f. & Wilson in the synonymy of C. pyriformis. The situation is rendered even more perplexing by their subsequent statement that the species in question is an Austral or Australasian species that may have been introduced to Europe in “pre-botanical” times.

Fife, A.J. 2019: Dicranaceae. In: Smissen, R.; Wilton, A.D. (ed.) Flora of New Zealand – Mosses. Fascicle 42. Edition 2. Manaaki Whenua Press, Lincoln.