Andreaea blyttii

Last updated

Andreaea blyttii
H4224761+1408549218.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Bryophyta
Class: Andreaeopsida
Order: Andreaeales
Family: Andreaeaceae
Genus: Andreaea
Species:
A. blyttii
Binomial name
Andreaea blyttii
Schimp.

Andreaea blyttii, also commonly known as Blytt's rock moss, is a moss belonging to the family Andreaeaceae, commonly known as rock moss, granite moss, or lantern moss because of this family's unique sporangium. [1] It is part of the genus Andreaea which is known for forming dark brownish or reddish-black carpets in high elevations. [2] This species was first described by Schimper in 1855. [3] [4]

Contents

Description

The shoots of A. blyttii vary in length. They are distinctively known for being small and dark red or black. They form tuffs and have acrocarpus growth. Depending on the frequency of desiccation, the branching pattern can vary from unbranched to irregularly branched. [4] [1] The number of leaves per shoot increases in dry environments. [4] The stem walls are made up of pigmented cells and the stem lacks a conducting strand which is a character of the genus Andreaea . [2] [1] [5] Rhizoids are attached at the base of the shoot. The spores are uniquely small in this species and grow into a thalloid protonema. [6] The leaves of this species are known to vary in morphology. [4] Leaf length and curvature, costa width and cell length are reduced in response to desiccation. [4] Leaf curvature can be erect, falcate-secund, or curved. [7] Larger more curved leaves with a smaller subula have been noted as a deviant morphology. [4] Most leaves are erect and have a short and wide basal lamina with rectangular unistratose cells and a long subula also known as a limb with a costa spanning the entire length of the leaf. [4] [5] [8] The costa is multistratose. [7] This moss is closely related to Andreaea nivalis but A. blyttii lacks the denticulate leaf margins and very papillose upper cells of A. nivalis. [9]

Habitat

Andreaea blyttii is usually found on rocks such as gneiss and granite. [4] It also found in late to extremely late snow beds at low to high latitudes and elevations. [10] It forms dense mats in mountain alpines where few other mosses can survive and is able to colonize sites of deglaciation. [11] In Norway, it has commonly been observed growing in association with Hymenoloma crispulum and Schistidium pulchrum. [10] [11] A. blyttii grows better on non-calcareous rocks. [4]

Distribution

Andreaea blyttii is distributed across higher elevations in Greenland, Iceland, Northern Europe, Northern Asia and across North America in California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Alaska, Yukon, North West territories, Nunavut, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Quebec. [6]

Reproduction

Andreaea blyttii can reproduce asexually and sexually. Asexual reproduction is through vegetative fragments. [4] After touching A. blyttii, your hands can collect some of the fragments. [11] The frequency of vegetative reproduction is recorded to be higher in moist environments but A. blyttii survive better in dry environments. [4] Fragments need to be able to anchor to their substrate which is usually rock before getting washed away. [4] Sexual reproduction occurs through sporic meiosis like in all bryophytes. [12] A. blyttii is autoicous meaning its female and male reproductive structures are on separate branches but on the same shoot. [5] The archegonium is borne at the tip of the shoot and is wrapped in perichaetial leaves which are differentiated from the rest of the leaves on the shoot. [13] The sporophyte emerges from the archegonium. All members of Andreaeopsida lack a seta and instead have a gametophyte pseudopodium that attaches to the sporangium. [2] The capsules of the sporangium lack peristome teeth and have 4 lines of moisture sensitive openings called lines of dehiscence. [2] To release spores the capsule opens via the lines of dehiscence when dry giving the sporophyte a paper lantern appearance. [2] These capsule openings allows for the spores to be released gradually. [4] The spores of this species are characteristically small ranging from 13-15 μm. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sporangium</span> Enclosure in which spores are formed

A sporangium ; pl.: sporangia) is an enclosure in which spores are formed. It can be composed of a single cell or can be multicellular. Virtually all plants, fungi, and many other groups form sporangia at some point in their life cycle. Sporangia can produce spores by mitosis, but in land plants and many fungi, sporangia produce genetically distinct haploid spores by meiosis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alternation of generations</span> Reproductive cycle of plants and algae

Alternation of generations is the predominant type of life cycle in plants and algae. In plants both phases are multicellular: the haploid sexual phase – the gametophyte – alternates with a diploid asexual phase – the sporophyte.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moss</span> Division of non-vascular land plants

Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophytasensu stricto. Bryophyta may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hornworts. Mosses typically form dense green clumps or mats, often in damp or shady locations. The individual plants are usually composed of simple leaves that are generally only one cell thick, attached to a stem that may be branched or unbranched and has only a limited role in conducting water and nutrients. Although some species have conducting tissues, these are generally poorly developed and structurally different from similar tissue found in vascular plants. Mosses do not have seeds and after fertilisation develop sporophytes with unbranched stalks topped with single capsules containing spores. They are typically 0.2–10 cm (0.1–3.9 in) tall, though some species are much larger. Dawsonia, the tallest moss in the world, can grow to 50 cm (20 in) in height. There are approximately 12,000 species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bryophyte</span> Terrestrial plants that lack vascular tissue

Bryophytes are a group of land plants, sometimes treated as a taxonomic division, that contains three groups of non-vascular land plants (embryophytes): the liverworts, hornworts, and mosses. In the strict sense, the division Bryophyta consists of the mosses only. Bryophytes are characteristically limited in size and prefer moist habitats although some species can survive in drier environments. The bryophytes consist of about 20,000 plant species. Bryophytes produce enclosed reproductive structures, but they do not produce flowers or seeds. They reproduce sexually by spores and asexually by fragmentation or the production of gemmae. Though bryophytes were considered a paraphyletic group in recent years, almost all of the most recent phylogenetic evidence supports the monophyly of this group, as originally classified by Wilhelm Schimper in 1879. The term bryophyte comes from Ancient Greek βρύον (brúon) 'tree moss, liverwort', and φυτόν (phutón) 'plant'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marchantiophyta</span> Botanical division of non-vascular land plants

The Marchantiophyta are a division of non-vascular land plants commonly referred to as hepatics or liverworts. Like mosses and hornworts, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which cells of the plant carry only a single set of genetic information.

<i>Fissidens adianthoides</i> Species of moss

Fissidens adianthoides, the maidenhair pocketmoss, is a moss in the family Fissidentaceae. It was first collected by Hedwig in 1801.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Funariidae</span> Subclass of mosses

The Funariidae are a widespread group of mosses in class Bryopsida. The majority of species belong to the genera Funaria and Physcomitrium.

<i>Takakia ceratophylla</i> Species of moss

Takakia ceratophylla is one of the two species of toothless mosses in the genus Takakia, under the Takakiaceae family. This species was first described by William Mitten in 1861. Takakia ceratophylla is vulnerable and threatened by habitat loss due to human activities.

<i>Hypnodendron comosum</i> Species of moss

Hypnodendron comosum, commonly known as palm moss or palm tree moss, is a ground moss which can be divided into two varieties: Hypnodendron comosum var. comosum and Hypnodendron comosum var. sieberi. Both Hypnodendron varieties most commonly grow in damp locations in the temperate and tropical rainforests of New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania in southern Australia and in New Zealand.

<i>Kiaeria</i> (plant) Genus of haplolepideous mosses

Kiaeria is a genus of haplolepideous mosses (Dicranidae) of the family Dicranaceae. The genus is named after Franz Caspar Kiaer (1835-1893), a Norwegian doctor and bryologist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Splachnaceae</span> Family of mosses

Splachnaceae is a family of mosses, containing around 70 species in 6 genera. Around half of those species are entomophilous, using insects to disperse their spores, a characteristic found in no other seedless land plants.

<i>Pogonatum urnigerum</i> Species of moss

Pogonatum urnigerum is a species of moss in the family Polytrichaceae, commonly called urn haircap. The name comes from "urna" meaning "urn" and "gerere" meaning "to bear" which is believed to be a reference made towards the plant's wide-mouthed capsule. It can be found on gravelly banks or similar habitats and can be identified by the blue tinge to the overall green colour. The stem of this moss is wine red and it has rhizoids that keep the moss anchored to substrates. It is an acrocarpous moss that grows vertically with an archegonium borne at the top of each fertilized female gametophyte shoot which develops an erect sporophyte.

<i>Climacium dendroides</i> Species of moss

Climacium dendroides, also known as tree climacium moss, belongs in the order Hypnales and family Climaciaceae, in class Bryopsida and subclass Bryidae. It is identified as a "tree moss" due to its distinctive morphological features, and has four species identified across the Northern Hemisphere. The species name "dendroides" describes the tree-like morphology of the plant, and its genus name came from the structure of the perforations of peristome teeth. This plant was identified by Weber and Mohr in 1804. They often have stems that are around 2-10 cm tall and growing in the form of patches, looking like small palm-trees. They have yellow-green branches at the tip of stems. The leaves are around 2.5-3 mm long, with rounder stem leaves and pointier branch leaves. Their sporophytes are only abundant in late winter and early spring, and appears as a red-brown shoot with long stalk and cylindrical capsules.

<i>Plagiomnium venustum</i> Species of moss

Plagiomnium venustum, also known as magnificent leafy moss, is a species of moss belonging to the family Mniaceae. It is found mainly in western North America along the coastal region. This moss can be identified from other members of the Plagiomnium genus by dark coloured stomata guide cells and the absence of sterile stems. It is most commonly found growing as a mat on a variety of substrate, but mainly on humus and moist soil.

<i>Andreaea rupestris</i> Species of moss

Andreaea rupestris is a species of moss in the class Andreaeopsida, are commonly referred to as the "lantern mosses" due to the appearance of their dehisced sporangia. It is typically found on smooth, acidic, exposed rock in the Northern hemisphere. It exhibits the common features of the genus Andreaea such as being acrocarpous, having dark pigmentation, lacking a seta, and bearing 4 lines of dehiscence in its mature sporangia, but can be further identified upon careful examination of its gametophytic leaves which have an ovate base to a more blunt apex compared to other similar species.

<i>Tortula muralis</i> Species of moss

Tortula muralis, commonly known as wall-screw moss, is a species of moss in the family Pottiaceae. T. muralis is found throughout the world.

<i>Syntrichia latifolia</i> Species of moss

Syntrichia latifolia, formerly Tortula latifolia, and commonly known as water screw-moss, is a species of moss belonging to the family Pottiaceae. Syntrichia species differ from members of Tortula due to synapomorphic leaf qualities, such as different basal and distal cells, as well as different costal cross sections where Tortula has an abaxial epidermis and Syntrichia lacks one.

<i>Polytrichastrum formosum</i> Species of moss

Polytrichastrum formosum, commonly known as the bank haircap moss, is a species of moss belonging to the family Polytrichaceae.

Claopodium crispifolium, crispleaf roughmoss, is a moss species in the family Leskeaceae. It is an epiphyte growing on trees in North America.

<i>Dicranoloma billardierei</i> Non-vascular plant

Dicranoloma billardierei is a species of bryophyte in the genus Dicranoloma. This moss is extremely common in wet rainforest habitats. In the field, Dicranoloma billardierei, is often confused with Dicranoloma robustum and Dicranoloma fasciatum. However, the short and obtuse nature of the leaves make this moss normally very distinctive.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Webmaster, David Ratz. "Blytt's Andreaea Moss - Montana Field Guide". fieldguide.mt.gov. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "granite moss | plant | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
  3. "Andreaea blyttii Schimper [family ] on JSTOR". plants.jstor.org. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Heegaard, Einar (1997). "Morphological Variation within Andreaea blyttii in Relation to the Environment on Hardangervidda, Western Norway: A Quantitative Analysis". The Bryologist. 100 (3): 308–323. doi:10.2307/3244501. ISSN   0007-2745. JSTOR   3244501.
  5. 1 2 3 Glime, Janice M.; Tuba, Zoltan; Slack, Nancy G.; Stark, Lloyd R. (2010), "Ecological and Physiological Effects of Changing Climate on Aquatic Bryophytes", Bryophyte Ecology and Climate Change, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 93–114, doi:10.1017/cbo9780511779701.007, ISBN   9780511779701 , retrieved 2022-04-09
  6. 1 2 Webmaster, David Ratz. "Blytt's Andreaea Moss - Montana Field Guide". fieldguide.mt.gov. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
  7. 1 2 3 "Andreaea blyttii in Flora of North America @ efloras.org". www.efloras.org. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  8. "Andreaea blyttii : Blytt's Rock-moss | NBN Atlas". species.nbnatlas.org. Retrieved 2022-04-10.
  9. Harpel, Juddith A. (October 2008). "Andreaea nivalis - Species Fact sheet" (PDF). US Forest Service.
  10. 1 2 Heegaard, Einar (1997-01-01). "Ecology of Andreaea in western Norway". Journal of Bryology. 19 (3): 527–636. doi:10.1179/jbr.1997.19.3.527. ISSN   0373-6687.
  11. 1 2 3 Stebel, Adam; Ochyra, Ryszard; Konstantinova, Nadezhda A.; Ziaja, Wiesław; Ostafin, Krzysztof; Maciejowski, Wojciech (2018-12-31). "A contribution to the knowledge of bryophytes in polar areas subjected to rapid deglaciation: a case study from southeastern Spitsbergen". Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae. 87 (4). doi: 10.5586/asbp.3603 . ISSN   2083-9480. S2CID   92266634.
  12. Haig, David (2016-10-19). "Living together and living apart: the sexual lives of bryophytes". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 371 (1706): 20150535. doi:10.1098/rstb.2015.0535. PMC   5031620 . PMID   27619699.
  13. "Andreaea blyttii - FNA". floranorthamerica.org. Retrieved 2022-04-10.