| An increasingly large number of macrodisjunct species is emerging from recent literature dealing with taxonomy and floristics of tropical bryophytes. This paper reviews present knowledge concerning Afro-American disjunctions in Hepaticae and seeks to interprete the data in the light of current phytogeographical theory. Numerous new floristic records and range extensions are given and some taxonomic novelties are proposed. For 35 Afro-American species known three main distribution types are recognized, each further subdivided: Tropical Afro-American (lowland, montane and the alpine element), Subtropical-Mediterranean (southern, wide element) and Temperate-Subantarctic (southern, wide element). Most species belong to Jungermanniales except for the... |
