Number 71 July 2018

Australia – New Zealand – Indonesia – Timor-Leste – Papua Niugini – Nouvelle Calédonie – Solomon Islands – Vanuatu

IN THIS ISSUE 2 The Magic and Enchantment of Bryophytes (A Review) .......... Alison and Kevin Downing 5 Saihoji Temple – Koke-dera – Kyoto Moss Temple ........................................ Chris Cargill 6 Australian Bryological Collections: 1 Queensland Herbarium ................... Andrew Franks

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The Magic and Enchantment of Bryophytes (苔藓之美) by Li Zhang, Zuo Qin and Mao Lihui (A Review) Alison Downing and Kevin Downing

Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University NSW

Professor Li Zhang is a Research Professor of Bryology at Fairy Lake

Botanic Gardens in Shenzhen and is passionate about bryophytes. He

has published extensively on bryophyte taxonomy, phylogeny,

conservation, phytogeography and biomonitoring; however, he is

also on a mission to enlighten the general community about the

importance of bryophytes in the environment and is convinced that

the best way to generate interest is to use the delicate and intricate

beauty of mosses and liverworts to capture the hearts and minds of

those who would otherwise not give them a second thought. He has

been remarkably successful in achieving this result through a

combination of educational programs and publications targeting the

general public.

Li Zhang is a skilful photographer and over the years has captured many exquisite images of mosses,

liverworts and hornworts. In 2009, many of his photographs were used when Zhang Li, Dr Zuo Qin

and Dr Hong Pou Leng, published the first Chinese-English edition of The Miniature Angels in the

Plant Kingdom: An Introduction to Bryophytes (植物王国小矮人, 苔藓植物), and later the second

edition and a simplified Chinese-English edition in 2015. These publications were produced for

amateur naturalists, teachers and students and sought to provide background information on

bryophytes, their diversity, morphology, life cycles, growth habits, distribution and the importance

of their conservation.

In 2014, Li Zhang suggested to colleagues Ms Li

Shihua and Ms Xu Lili, both artists in the

Horticulture Department at Fairylake Botanic

Garden, that they might illustrate some of the

bryophytes he had previously photographed.

Thus began a very successful collaboration

between bryologists and artists leading to the

publication last year of yet another beautiful

book, The Magic and Enchantment of

Bryophytes (苔藓之美)! The artists used

various media, including gouache, acrylic and

water paints and also some computer-

generated images. The paintings include 60

species from a wide range of habitats, from

coniferous forests and grasslands of the north

and south-west, to deserts of far western

China, to rainforests of the south-east, and not forgetting those cosmopolitan species with which

most of us are familiar! Bryophytes are very small plants, and it would have been extremely difficult

Professor Li Zhang

The Magic and Enchantment of Bryophytes

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for the artists to reproduce the many fine and delicate structures of both mosses and liverworts. I

was amazed to find that the artists worked in their own time, painting during their lunch breaks

and in the evenings, to achieve the beautiful artworks displayed in this book. The following

illustrations are reproduced with permission.

The text that accompanies the illustrations is very descriptive, easy to understand and at times

delights the reader with charming insights into Chinese culture, for example, the text that

accompanies this painting of Phaeoceros recounts that the Chinese idiom used to describe the

horn-like sporophytes translates as bare fangs and brandish claws - 张牙舞爪.

This captivating painting of Splachnum rubrum (above) is accompanied by the text: These are

neither mushrooms nor small umbrellas, rather sporophytes of Splachnum rubrum. The ladies’

petticoats are apophyses (bases of capsules), and as they mature, they continue to expand and

deepen in colour.

It is easy to take these paintings for granted, until you realise that some of the detail is only visible

under the microscope, and then you can appreciate features such as the serrated margins of the

leaves in this painting of Scapania massalongii. Writing this article has been frustrating in the

extreme, knowing that we could only include a handful of images and having to choose!

Phaeoceros sp., Xu Lili, on paper, acrylic, 2015 Splachum rubrum, Xu Lili, on paper, gouache, 2015

Scapania massalongii, Li Shihua, on cloth, acrylic, 2016 Grimmia montana, Li Shihua, on cloth, acrylic, 2017

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And how appropriate is this moss, Dicranodontium didymodon (below) from South-east Asia, which

has gemmae that look like bamboo and are described in the text: The extraordinary miniature

bamboo-like structures on the tips of the stems are deciduous flagelliform branches with minute

leaves.

In order to meet the needs of readers using Portuguese as

their written language, a new version in traditional Chinese

and Portuguese based on the present version, was

published in March 2018. Both versions are similar, except

that two new paintings of Fissidens macaoensis, a species

endemic to Macao, were added.

Professor Li Zhang and his colleagues are to be

congratulated on this lovely book which is an ideal means

to introduce bryophytes to students, colleagues, friends

who have always puzzled over why on earth you would

want to study mosses, and those with an interest in natural

history but who have not yet had the confidence to deal

with the challenges of the small size of most bryophytes.

The Magic and Enchantment of Bryophytes is available through the bookshop of the Government of Macao.

Dicranodontium didymon, Xu Lili, on cloth, acrylic, 2017

Artists Xu Lili (L) and Li Shihua (R) with Professor Li Zhang (middle)

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Saihoji Temple – Koke-dera – Kyoto Moss temple Chris Cargill Curator of Cryptogam Herbarium, Australian National Herbarium, Canberra

On the 9th June 2018 I was fortunate to be able to visit the

UNESCO listed World Heritage Site of Kyoto’s Saihoji

Temple, also affectionately known as Koke-dera or moss

temple. The temple itself has a history going back over

1,200 years unlike many other temples in Japan and the

moss garden itself was built in 1339 by the Buddhist priest

Muso Soseki.

Unlike many other temples in Japan, you must write and

request a reservation to visit Kokedera, which I did two

months prior and received the invitation in the mail a few

weeks before my trip to Japan. It is a requirement of the

temple that all visitors must first pay ¥3,000, then enter the

temple, chant for 10 to 15 minutes, write a prayer on a

bamboo bookmark which is then given up to the temple

along with a donation and only then are you allowed to

enter and view the gardens.

This requirement was no hardship and well worth doing in

order to view the gardens for the next 2 ½ hours. According

to the sign at the front of the temple, there are 120 species

of moss blanketing the gardens – and a number of

liverworts and lichens too! Instead of grass lawns beneath

the trees and shrubs, it was all bryophytes and some

lichens. Absolutely beautiful! We only saw two or three

gardeners tending the garden, but it was immaculate.

Polytrichum, Leucobryum and Hypnum species were

mosses that were common and that I recognised. Of the

liverworts there was plenty of Marchantia sp. and

Conocephalum conicum. But I did also see a patch of Aneura

and a large swathe of several terricolous leafy liverworts,

but by far the majority of the garden was covered in mosses.

A sight well worth seeing when visiting Kyoto, Japan.

Also check out Janice Glime’s eBook. She has a chapter on

Japanese moss gardens.

Above: Pictures from the moss temple by Chris Cargill

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Australian Bryological Collections: 1 Queensland Herbarium (BRI) Andrew Franks Senior Botanist, Queensland Herbarium

This is the first in a series of articles describing the bryophyte collections housed in the Australian

herbaria. It is hoped that subsequent issues of the Australasian Bryological Newsletter will focus on

a different Australian herbarium or institution that houses a major bryophyte collection.

The Queensland Herbarium (BRI) is the centre for biodiversity science and information on

Queensland plants, animals and plant communities in Queensland’s Department of Environment

and Science (DES). The Herbarium’s origins date from 1855, when Walter Hill was appointed

superintendent of the Botanic Gardens at what is now known as Gardens Point in central Brisbane.

In the 160 years since the Queensland Herbarium was established, the number of accessioned plant

specimens has grown to a total of more than 860,000. Most of these specimens are from

Queensland and collected by Queenslanders.

During its long history, the Herbarium’s collections have been housed in five places in the Brisbane

area. Today the Herbarium collection is housed in a purposed-built building located in the Brisbane

Botanic Gardens Mt Coot-tha in the suburb of Toowong (Figure 1).

Figure 1. The Queensland Herbarium building at Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Mt Coot-tha.

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The BRI bryophyte collection consists of some 13,000 specimens, including over 8,000 specimens

representing the Queensland bryophyte flora. Significant historical bryophyte collections include

specimens collected by C.J.Wild, J.F.Shirley and F.M.Bailey. These collections represent some of the

first bryophyte collections from south-east Queensland and the Wet Tropics regions. Many of these

historical specimens remain in their original packets (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Collection of Calyptothecium recurvulum (AQ642216) made by C.J. Wild from Woolston Scrub, Brisbane,

August 1888. Many of Wild's collections at the Queensland Herbarium remain in the original packet used for collection,

in this case a page from The Brisbane Courier, 2nd March 1988.

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Bryophyte specimens are presently stored within the main herbarium collection in cardboard

archival boxes arranged alphabetically by genera. Many bryophyte specimens were historically

placed into cellophane packets within folded paper envelopes. These are steadily been transitioned

into archival paper packets within folded archival paper envelopes. The whole collection is

databased in the Queensland Herbarium’s specimen database (HERBRECS). However, only those

specimens collected within the Queensland state area are uploaded into the Australasian Virtual

Herbarium (AVH).

Loan or collection access requests should be directed to:

Director, Queensland Herbarium

Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Mount Coot-tha

Mt Coot-tha Road, Toowong Qld 4066, Australia.

Ph: +61 7 3896 9326 or email: Queensland.Herbarium@qld.gov.au

Further information about the Queensland Herbarium is available through:

https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/plants-animals/plants/herbarium

Australasian Bryological Newsletter is published online twice yearly. Previous issues can be downloaded from

www.utas.edu.au/australasian-bryological-newsletter/ Editor: Sarah Harvey (sarah.harvey@adelaide.edu.au) Articles relating to bryology in Australasia are welcome!

Figure 3. The Queensland Herbarium's bryophyte collection within compactus unit (left) and accessioned specimens within storage box (right).