Epipterygium opararense

Epipterygium opararense (also Epipterygium obovatum) is a species of moss from the Mniaceae family that is only known to grow in one site in the Kahurangi National Park in New Zealand's South Island. The Department of Conservation assigned it the rating of 'nationally critical' in 2002. It has been proposed for inclusion in the IUCN Red List. Epipterygium are found in humid and warm regions, mainly in Central America. Epipterygium opararense is the only Epipterygium moss that grows in Australasia. It has 1/2 phyllotaxy (leaves are located one above the other, rotated 180°), which is unique for the genus, which usually has 2/5; it is probably an evolutionary adaptation to the darkness of the habitat. The colour of the plants is pale green or brownish-green, while individual stalks have a yellow or red shade of brown. Several 15-mm unbranched stalks with distichously arranged single leaves grow from a common point. The leaves are elliptic; their dimensions are 1.5–2.1 × 0.7–0.85 mm; the......read more on Wikipedia.