Morphotaxonomy of three rare Terricolous taxa of Jungermanniales occurring in Nilgiri hills (Western Ghats) India

Abstract

Nilgiri hills being a part of biodiversity hot spot, is a home of colossal life forms including bryophytes. Bryophytes have a great diversity in Nilgiri hills which includes both terricolous and corticolous forms. This study deals with morphotaxonomy of three extremely infrequent terricolous taxa of order Jungermanniales, viz., Gottschelia schizopleura (Spruce) Grolle, Lethocolea javanica (Schiffn.) Grolle and Jackiella javanica var. cordifolia Schiffn, occurring in Nilgiri hills. These taxa were located to a few restricted pockets and facing high risk of habitat loss which need urgent/immediate conservation management. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ije.v3i2.10640 International Journal of the Environment Vol.3(2) 2014: 263-275

Keywords

• Bryophyta Jungermanniales
• Nilgiri hills
• morphotaxonomy
• habitat loss
• conservation management