A Synopsis of Calymperes (Musci: Calymperaceae) in Malaysia and Adjacent Regions

Abstract

A review of recent and historical specimens of Calymperes (Musci: Calymperaceae) from various regions of the Old World tropics, including primarily Malaysia, Oceania, and Aus- tralia, reveals only 16 well-defined species, in spite of the numerous names reportedfrom the general area as species. A key, synonymy, diagnostic features, reference to illustrations, and differen- tiation from similar are given for these 16 species, together with an index to all names cited. Taxonomic study of the mosses of tropical regions is hampered in various ways, e.g., lack of good, large, recent collections; difficulty of access to his- torical collections; scattered literature extending far back in time; and, most importantly, inordinate and inexplicable multiplication of names leading to the situation that may be called overdescription for many genera, a phenomenon that has been recog- nized more and more in recent years. To cope with this latter problem it is essential that students of tropical bryophytes take a world view in their stud- ies and not be content to accept only the names applied to the plants from their particular geograph- ic areas. There is a great need in bryology for modern revisions of tropical genera performed in such a manner as to avoid parochial points of view as to concepts and geographic distributions. Bryologists should have unhesitating willingness to reject historical new species based on minor mor- phological deviations, or on one or a few collections, or both; sincere reluctance to describe taxa without demonstrating that an earlier name does not exist; and their studies should be supplemented whenever possible with recent collections preferably made by bryologists. Touw (1974) presents an in- teresting analysis of the history and ultimate fates of historical names of mosses treated in recent re-