*1: On the ground, woods near
theAbbey
Gardens,
Tresco, Isles of Scilly, May 1961, RJM; Holotype, 1962, JAP
(OXF) (Paton 1962: 362 in error as Telaranea sejuncta; Paton 1969a:
695-696).
Paton (1999) regarded T. murphyae and T. longii Paton as
distinct species known only from Great
Britain where they are
'associated with gardens and may have been imported
accidentally from unknown countries of origin'. Grolle &
Long (2000) suggested they might represent males and females
of a single species. However, a taxonomic monograph by Engel
& Smith Merrill (2004) concluded that T. longii is a synonym
of T. tetradactyla (Hook.f.
& Tayl.) Hodgs. from New
Zealand and possibly
elsewhere in the Southern Hemisphere. The origins of T. murphyae remain
uncertain. Engel & Smith Merrill (op. cit. p. 169)
commented that 'we cannot match this plant with any
Australasian species, nor does it resemble any Neotropical or
African species known to us'.
Until 2003 known only on Tresco, where mainly on
soil but also spreading over adjacent low rocks and well
rotted wood, in humid sheltered sites that are more or less
shaded by trees of woodland (plantations) or shrubbery.
Extends into Grey Willow carr beside pools,
growing on moist substrates. Recorded in small amounts at two
localities on St Mary's in 2003, in a large garden near Rocky
Hill and beside a path on Lower Moor.
Not seen c.fr.
