# Beyond nutmeg, mace, and cloves: Checklist of the liverworts and hornworts of Maluku Islands (Moluccas), Indonesia

## TL;DR

This paper presents the first checklist of liverworts and hornworts in the Maluku Islands, Indonesia, highlighting biodiversity and suggesting more species remain to be discovered.

## Contribution

The study provides the first comprehensive checklist of liverworts and hornworts for the Maluku Islands, identifying new and doubtful species.

## Key findings

- 355 accepted and 16 doubtful liverwort and hornwort species were identified in the Maluku Islands.
- 22 previously reported species were rejected based on new evidence.
- The study suggests further fieldwork could reveal additional species in the region.

## Abstract

The first ever liverwort and hornwort checklist is provided for the Maluku Islands (Moluccas/Spice Islands) of Indonesia. We report 355 accepted and 16 doubtful species and reject 22 species previously reported for Maluku Islands. The list is based on the specimens housed in the Herbarium Bogoriense (BO) and reports from over 500 literature references, including monographs, regional studies, and molecular investigations. The Maluku Islands are part of the Wallacea Biodiversity Hotspot with many unique species found only in Wallacea. Publications focusing on liverworts and hornworts of Maluku Islands are few and scattered. Considering regionally widespread species that have been recorded elsewhere, we predict that further fieldwork exploring the diversity of habitats coupled with collections unveiled from regional herbaria, a number of new records remain to be reported.