The construction of this website is a work in progress. The basic data will come from the previously published moss checklist housed on the Pick server at the Missouri Botanical Garden, which might be no longer accessible in the future. 

This website attempts to provide updates and corrections which are done regularly when new information is available. The updated accepted species number will be more than what was recognized in the last checklist, encompassing 850 species and 41 subspecific taxa, representing 234 genera and 74 families. The taxa numbers previously recorded for each geographic region of Chile as well as for Juan Fernandez Islands, is summarized in the following table. 

Specimens from Chile deposited at the Missouri Botanical Garden (MO) are listed under each accepted species. Unlike in the last checklist that cities only collectors and numbers, here the specimen records are listed with direct links to complete information from the specimen labels. Another advantage of this website is the direct reference links to papers where the respective taxon was treated in Chile.

The earlier study showed that the northern regions (Region XV and I)  had received little attention historically, but lately some records have been reported. The southern regions, especially Regions X, XI, and XII are bryologically rich areas, each has more than 330 taxa.

The floristic affinities of the Chilean moss flora await critical analysis. In general, the characteristics of the Chilean moss flora exhibit principally two geographical features. The mosses associated with the desert region and the northern zones have links to temperate-tropical elements of Bolivia-Ecuador-Colombia. There is also a rather high percentage of higher elevation taxa in the region. In contrast, the moss flora in the extensive south temperate regions has links to those found in southeastern Australia, New Zealand, and Subantarctica.

Project Contact:

Si He, Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63110. E-mail: si.he@mobot.org