Preliminary Catalogue of Lejeuneaceae (Hepaticae) from Venezuela

A revision of the literature and herbarium specimens from the National Herbarium of Venezuela (VEN) yields a preliminary catalogue of Venezuelan Lejeuneaceae with 218 species in 55 genera. 29 dubious records are excluded. Venezuela contains several important regions for the diversity of hepatics in the neotropics. Its known diversity is yet surpassed by Ecuador, Brazil and Colombia only. Four new records for Venezuela are reported Lejeunea huctumalcensis Lindenb. & Gottsche [= Ceratolejeunea dussiana (Steph.) G. Dauphin], C. laetefusca (Aust.) R. M. Schust., Harpalejeunea subacuta A. Evans and Taxilejeunea isocalycina (Nees) Steph. Four combinations are proposed: Cololejeunea gracilis (Jovet-Ast) Pócs, comb. nov. (= Aphanolejeunea gracilis Jovet-Ast), Cololejeunea microscopica var. africana Pócs & Bernecker, comb. nov. (= Aphanolejeunea microscopica (Taylor) A. Evans var. africana Pócs & Bernecker), Cololejeunea papillosa (Goebel) Bernecker & Pócs, comb. nov. (= Physocolea (Aphanolejeunea) papillosa Goebel) and Cololejeunea subsphaeroidea (R. M. Schust.) Pócs, comb. nov. (= Aphanolejeunea subsphaeroidea R. M. Schust.).