Abstract
Ecuador has a very diverse bryophyte flora with about 950 species of mosses and 700 of liverworts and hornworts. Nevertheless, the distribution of the species within the country remains incompletely explored and many species are only known from very few collections. This paper presents new additions to the liverwort and hornwort flora of Ecuador. The hornwort Notothylas vitalii and the liverworts Blepharostoma trichophyllum, Frullania setigera, Isopaches bicrenatus, Platycaulis renifolia and Symphyogyna apiculispina are new to the country, four species are new to southern Ecuador, eighteen are new to the province of Loja, ten are new to Napo, six are new to Pichincha and one species is new to the provinces of El Oro and Carchi respectively. The record of Notothylas vitalii is the first one outside Brazil and constitutes the first record of the genus Notothylas from mainland Ecuador. The rare monospecific genus Platycaulis was previously known only from the type locality in the Venezuelan Andes, and the holarctic Isotaches bicrenatus in the tropics only from two mountains in southeastern Brazil. Several new records were gathered in very humid and bryophyte-rich, wind-stricken, foggy superpáramo vegetation in the Páramo de la Virgen (Napo) at 4100-4300 m. For all species notes on their geographical distribution and habitats in Ecuador as well as their world range are provided.