Diversity of mosses in some underexplored regions of Manipur, Northeast India

Abstract

The present paper deals with the investigation of moss taxa of some underexplored regions of Manipur, Northeast India. During the assessment of moss diversity in various localities of Manipur a total 126 species of mosses belonging to 84 genera in 34 families have been investigated and enumerated. Ten species, namely Amblystegium serpens,Entodontopsis leucostega, Entodontopsis tavoyensis, Homalia trichomanoides, Lindbergia duthiei, Philonotis mollis, Philonotis thwaitesii, Taxiphyllum giraldii,Tortella humilis and Thuidium sparsifolium are new additions to Eastern Himalaya, while 92 species of mosses have been reported for the first time from Manipur. Ten Indian endemic taxa have also been identified from the explored sites. The majority of the taxa were recorded from epiphytic habitats.