Encalypta kangchenjungae (Encalyptaceae) a new species from Nepal, India and Bhutan, with new records for other Himalayan Encalypta species

抄録

  A new species of Encalypta, E. kangchenjungae D.G.Long & P.Shrestha, is described from seven localities in East Nepal, India (Sikkim) and western Bhutan. It is tentatively placed in Section Rhabdotheca Müll.Hal. and shows similarities to E. rhaptocarpa Schwägr. from which it differs in its shorter stems, its shorter setae and shorter capsules, absence of a peristome, and in its short, smooth, thin and papery translucent calyptrae which are fringed at the base with triangular lobes and are campanulate-cucullate, deeply split up one side with the base consequently spreading out. In this feature it appears to be unique in the genus. It is restricted to strongly calcareous soil and rocky substrates at high altitudes in the East Himalaya. New reports are also given of three other species new to parts of this region, mostly identified by the late Diana Horton: E. alpina Sm. from Sikkim, E. ciliata Hedw. from Sikkim and Bhutan and E. rhaptocarpa Schwägr. from Nepal and Sikkim.