Bernard Goffinet spent a week in the Province of Aysén, surveying the
diversity of Lobariales, and in particular of the genus Peltigera with Dr. Julieta Orlando and her student Diego Leiva Cáceres, two microbiologists exploring the diversity and function of the microbiomes of two Peltigera species. Also joining us for a day was Yanira Pía Vega Belmar, a beginning Master student at the University of Magallanes, focusing on public education in the Miniature Forests. Wonderful landscapes, many collections and exciting collaborations developing.

Medina R., F. Lara, B. Goffinet, R. Garilleti & V. Mazimpaka. 2019. On the priority of Orthotrichum cylindrocarpum Lesq. over O. coulteri Mitt. and Lesquereux’s early vindication of an autonomous American bryology. Taxon (in press). pdf

Abstract reads: In a recent revision of the Orthotrichum tenellum complex, the authors erroneously concluded that the name O. coulteri predated the supposed synonym O. cylindrocarpum. This confusion was due to incongruent publication dates reported in the literature and lack of evidence of effective publication of the latter. Here, we demonstrate that the name O. cylindrocarpum was indeed published a few months before O. coulteri based on correspondence by the authorities and dated reprints. The almost simultaneous publication of both names occurred during a period in which some early American bryologists advocated that the discovery of new species from North America should be reported by them and not by their European colleagues.

Cole T.C.H., H.H. Hilger & B. Goffinet (2019) released a new “Bryophyte Phylogeny Poster”, depicting the current phylogeny of mosses, liverworts, and hornworts with characteristics of all orders. This resource will ultimately be available in 12 languages through ResearchGate. A preprint version is also available through PeerJ.