Grimmia dissimulata E.Maier, 2002

Osman, Imen Ben, Hugonnot, Vincent, Muller, Serge D. & Daoud-Bouattour, Amina, 2022, New bryophytes for Tunisia (North Africa). Part 2: other families, Cryptogamie, Bryologie 20 (11), pp. 173-185 : 179

Grimmia dissimulata E.Maier

SPECIMENS EXAMINED. — Tunisia. Mogods, Bizerte Governorate, Delegation of Tinja: Ichkeul National Park, with sporophytes, 37°08’21.00”N, 09°40’23.35”E, 20 m a.s.l. (site 2019-96), 11.IV.2019, Ben Osman & Hugonnot (TUN[TUN2019-251]); High Tell, Beja Governorate, Delegation of Thibar: Djebba, with sporophytes, 36°28’15.20”N, 09°05’57.03”E, 620 m a.s.l. (site 2019-104), 13.IV.2019, Ben Osman & Hugonnot (TUN[TUN2019-252]); Tunisian Dorsal, Kef Governorate, Delegation of Kalaat Senan, Table de Jughurta, N side, with sporophytes, 35°44’50.28”N, 08°22’44.33”E, 1090 m a.s.l. (site 2020-34), 13.III.2020, Ben Osman & Hugonnot (TUN[TUN2020-10]).

REMARKS

Grimmia dissimulata was found growing on calcareous rocks and screes in deep semi-wooded valleys dominated by woods composed of olive and pistachio mastic trees (Jbel Ichkeul), on a cultivated slope (fig trees, pomegranate, etc.) and xerophytic scrubland (Djebba), and in a rupicolous calcicolous community (Table de Jughurta). In Tunisia, this strongly calcicolous species was observed mainly on scree in natural habitats, which corresponds to its known ecology in Europe ( Maier 2002). However, it has also been reported from such artificial substrates as limestone walls and tombstones ( Smith 2004; Lüth 2012).

The species bears a superficial resemblance to Grimmia meridionalis (Müll.Hal.) E.Maier , G. lisae De Not. and G. trichophylla Grev. , but it can be easily distinguished by examining a transverse nerve section that shows 4 guide cells in a single layer at insertion and at the leaf base arranged ( G. lisae has 6 guide cells at insertion, and G. trichophylla has additional guide cells that form an incomplete second band). From G. meridionalis , it is harder to set apart: G. meridionalis has two guide cells in the upper part of the leaf, as G. dissimulata , but these are elliptical and oblique, whereas they have a large more or less circular lumen that is not oblique in G. dissumulata .

Grimmia dissimulata is a European southern-temperate species widely distributed in the Mediterranean area ( Ros et al. 2013). Scattered elsewhere in Europe ( Hodgetts & Lockhart 2020), it also occurs in Western Asia ( Kürschner & Frey 2020). Because it is a relatively newly described species ( Maier 2002), its distribution is not yet completely known ( Porley 2014).