The Ecology and Distribution of Hepaticae in a Mahogany Hammock in Tropical Florida

Since the early years of this century, when John K. Small collected Hepaticae (among other plants) in the Everglades, few significant lists of collections from that region have been published. The collections of Small were determined (and in most cases published upon) by A. W. Evans in a pioneer series of papers on the Floridian hepatic flora; these papers are all cited in the bibliography in Schuster (1966). The acumen of Small as collector and of Evans as investigator is evident from the fact that only a single species of Hepaticae (Ceratolejeunea rubiginosa) is reported from southern Florida in Frye and Clark (1937-47) which had not been listed by Evans, in the period from 1900-18! Eight field trips between 1950-59, each two to three weeks or more in duration, uncovered only a limited number of species not previously recognized from there (Aphanolejeunea cornutissima, A. ephemeroides, Leucolejeunea xanthocarpa, Harpalejeunea stricta, Plagiochila dubia and P. hypnoides, an undescribed Cheilolejeunea, Cololejeunea minutissima myriocarpa), attesting to the thoroughness of Evans’ work. Our knowledge of the hepatic flora of the region south of the Tamiami Canal has thus begun to approach a static situation. Over 4000 personal collections and identifications made added only six additional taxa to the flora of the region.