Ignatov, M.S., O.I. Kuznetsova & E.A. Ignatova. 2024. A new attempt to understand the genus Anoectangium (Pottiaceae, Bryophyta) in Russia

Arctoa (2024) 33: 1–8

doi: 10.15298/arctoa.33.01

An integrative taxonomic study based on a combined molecular and morphological analyses resulted in recognition of three species in the genus Anoectangium in Russia: A. aestivum, A. laetevirens, and A. stracheyanum. According to the obtained results, A. laetevirens is a rare East Asian species forming a sister clade to all other studied taxa of the genus. It occurs in Russia only in the Far Eastern mainland and in the Kuril Islands. Anoectangium stracheyanum is the most widespread species of the genus in the country, being known in eastern part of Asian Russia, eastwards from Baikal Lake, ranging from its southern border to the cold region of Yakutia. The clade of A. stracheyanum has two moderately supported subclades composed of northern and southern populations, which, however, are morphologically subidentical, differing only in a slightly longer leaves in plants of the southern clade. The occurrence of Anoectangium aestivum is confirmed in Russia in the Caucasus, Kola Peninsula, and the Baikal Lake area. Both A. stracheyanum and A. aestivum form supported clades, but an occasional occurrense of the DNA motifs of A. stracheyanum in some samples of A. aestivum may indicate a certain introgression. Anoectangium handelii was previously reported from Russia, but DNA barcoding found all so-called specimens belonging to depauperate plants of Gymnostomum, Hymenostylium, or Molendoa.