''Merrilliobryum tanianum'' is a species of

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...

in the family Myriniaceae. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the

Huon Peninsula Huon Peninsula is a large rugged peninsula on the island of New Guinea in Morobe Province, eastern Papua New Guinea. It is named after French explorer Jean-Michel Huon de Kermadec. The peninsula is dominated by the steep Saruwaged and Finist ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

.Daniel H. Norris, Timo Koponen, William R. Buck "Bryophyte Flora of the Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea. LXXI Merrilliobryum (Myriniaceae, Musci)," Annales Botanici Fennici, 45(4), 269-276, (1 August 2008)

Description

The plants are small, and pale green with yellow to pale green stems. Plants are irregularly branched with prostrate stems and branches erect to decumbent. The branches are densely covered in small leaves, homomallous, constricted at their bases and easily detached.

Habitat and ecology

''M. tanianum'' grows in shady habitats and is mostly epiphytic, commonly found on tree trunks and bark, trunks of

tree fern Tree ferns are arborescent (tree-like) ferns that grow with a trunk (botany), trunk elevating the fronds above ground level, making them trees. Many extant tree ferns are members of the order Cyatheales, to which belong the families Cyatheaceae ( ...

s and ''Pandanus'', and on cliffs. The species is found in montane rain forest on the Huon Peninsula in northeastern New Guinea, 1100 to 2900 meters. Specimens have been collected in a range of habitats, including undisturbed very wet montane rain forest, second-growth and badly-disturbed rain forests, disturbed groves of ''

Pandanus ''Pandanus'' is a genus of monocots with about 578 accepted species. They are palm-like, dioecious trees and shrubs native to the Old World tropics and subtropics. Common names include pandan, screw palm and screw pine. The genus is classified ...

'', open rainforests on ridge crests, and in rain forest patches surrounded by open ''

Miscanthus ''Miscanthus'', or silvergrass'','' is a genus of African, Eurasian, and Pacific Island plants in the grass family, Poaceae. The name is derived from the Greek words "''miskos"'', meaning "stem", and "''anthos"'', meaning "flower", in reference ...

'' grassland.

Taxonomy

The plant is named for Dr. Benito C. Tan, a bryologist and expert in tropical mosses. "In Memoriam: Benito Ching Tan (1946–2016)" The University Herbarium, University of California, Berkeley. Accessed 14 July 2021. https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/people/Tan_obit.html

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17206877 Fabroniaceae Endemic flora of New Guinea Endangered plants Huon Peninsula montane rain forests Plants described in 2008