Grimmia ovalis (Hedw.) Lindb.

Eva Maier, Michelle J. Price & Terry A. Hedderson, 2017, A revision of Grimmia (Grimmiaceae) from South Africa and Lesotho, Candollea 72 (1), pp. 199-230 : 227

Grimmia ovalis (Hedw.) Lindb.

All specimens we have seen labelled as this species have proven to belong to other taxa. For example, of the ten BOL collections under this name, three (Esterhuysen 18696, 19872, 24422) are G. montana , whilst seven (Esterhuysen 21637, 35931, Magill 4122, Schelpe 2106, 2116) are G. longirostris . Magill (1981: 14-19, Fig. 82) cites Schelpe 2116 as G. ovalis and his illustration of this species is based partly on Killick 4207. However, the transverse leaf sections (Fig. 82.18) are those of G. longirostris rather than G. ovalis , as seen in Maier (2010: 263, 265). Thus we have been unable to confirm the presence of G. ovalis in the study area and, despite Magill’s (1981: 277) note that it is “a very widespread species”, we here exclude it from the local flora.

On a global scale, G. ovalis and G. longirostris have long been confused, and it is only relatively recently that the distinctions between them have been clarified. It is thus not surprising that G. ovalis had mistakenly been attributed to the study area (e.g. Magill & Schelpe, 1979; Schelpe, 1979; Sim 1926: 210).