Nosova, M.B., O.I. Kuznetsova, E.A. Ignatova & M.S. Ignatov. 2023. A rediscovery of Cryptoleptodon remotifolius (Neckeraceae, Bryophyta) in the Caucasus, with comments on its generic placement

Arctoa (2023) 32: 93–110

doi: 10.15298/arctoa.32.09

Leskea catenulata subsp. remotifolia was described in 1877 based on specimens from Georgia (Caucasus) and later never reported from this country. It was recently found that this taxon is identical with the Hyrcanian species traditionally called Pseudoleskeella laxiramea. It was recently placed into Forsstroemia or Leptodon. In 2022 the species was again collected in Georgia, in a locality 15 km from the locus classicus. It appeared to be identical to the Iranian specimens in its ITS sequences. However, in the molecular phylogenetic tree based on ITS it is resolved in a clade with Cryptoleptodon pluvinii, whereas Leptodon smithii, L. longisetus, and L. corsicus form a clade sister to Cryptoleptodon. Since the representatives of these two clades possess considerable morphological distinctions, we suggest to consider Cryptoleptodon as a separate genus. This conclusion is also supported by the statistical support of each clade (Leptodon and Cryptoleptodon) which higher than the support of their common clade, both from Bayesian and maximum parsimony analyses.