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Summary

Noteroclada confluens is a species of liverwort belonging to the family Noterocladaceae. It is characterised by grass-green shoots bearing rounded leaves and distinctive underground tubers that come in two geographical forms. The species is primarily found in Latin America, with two main centres of distribution: along the Andes Mountains from Mexico to Tierra del Fuego, and in the coastal mountains of southeastern Brazil, with additional disjunct populations on several South Atlantic islands. It typically grows in moist montane environments, forming dense mats along stream banks, lake edges and seeps. While its taxonomic history has been complex, particularly regarding confusion with the genus Fossombronia, modern studies recognise it as the sole species in its genus and place it in its own family within the order Pelliales, related to but distinct from Pellia.

Taxonomy

Noteroclada confluens originated as a name created by Thomas Taylor, but was first officially established when William Jackson Hooker and William Wilson published it in the London Journal of Botany (1844), based on specimens collected by George Gardner (n. 32) from the Organ Mountains of Brazil. The original brief description comparing it to Jungermannia hyalina was sufficient to make this scientific name officially valid under botanical naming rules, even though it was very short.

The taxonomic history of the species has been complex and marked by confusion with related genera. The name Androcryphia was proposed by Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck in 1846 as a replacement for Noteroclada, believing Taylor's choice of name to be etymologically nonsensical. However, Nees misinterpreted the prefix "noter-" as deriving from the Greek notos (meaning "back") rather than noteros (meaning "moist"), the latter being a logical reference to the plant's wet habitat preferences. This created a prolonged period of nomenclatural uncertainty, with some authors using Noteroclada while others preferred...