Bartramia nothostricta

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Bartramia nothostricta
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Bryophyta
Class: Bryopsida
Order: Bartramiales
Family: Bartramiaceae
Genus: Bartramia
Species:B. nothostricta
Binomial name
Bartramia nothostricta
Catches.

Bartramia nothostricta is a species of mosses in the family Bertramiaceae and is endemic to the south-east of Australia. It grows in small colonies in moist places, and is recognised by its leaves which look like a shaving brush and by its bright green, spherical, lollipop-like capsules.

Moss division of plants

Mosses are small flowerless plants that typically grow in 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.

Family is one of the eight major hierarcical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy; it is classified between order and genus. A family may be divided into subfamilies, which are intermediate ranks between the ranks of family and genus. The official family names are Latin in origin; however, popular names are often used: for example, walnut trees and hickory trees belong to the family Juglandaceae, but that family is commonly referred to as being the "walnut family".

Endemism ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location or habitat

Endemism is the ecological state of a species being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation, country or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. The extreme opposite of endemism is cosmopolitan distribution. An alternative term for a species that is endemic is precinctive, which applies to species that are restricted to a defined geographical area.

Contents

Description

Bartramia nothostricta moss plants are 5–10 mm (0.2–0.4 in) tall and form dense clusters or "turfs" which are bright green above and brownish below. The stems have a fairly large central strand and there are only a few, dark red-brown rhizoids at the base. The leaves are erect around the stem, standing like the hairs on a shaving brush. The leaves are narrow lance-shaped, 1.5–4 mm (0.06–0.2 in) long, about 0.5 mm (0.02 in) wide, have small teeth on the edge and are constructed of two cell layers. The costa or "nerve" is strong, and more or less prominent on the lower side. The capsules are almost spherical, bright green and sit on top of a red stalk. The peristome has short yellowish teeth. [1] [2]

Rhizoids are protuberances that extend from the lower epidermal cells of bryophytes and algae. They are similar in structure and function to the root hairs of vascular land plants. Similar structures are formed by some fungi. Rhizoids may be unicellular or multicellular. Roots are multicellular organs composed of multiple tissues that collectively carry out a common function.

Shave brush small brush used to create shaving cream and apply it to the face

A shave brush or shaving brush is a small brush with a handle parallel to the bristles used to apply shaving soap or shaving cream to the face when shaving. Shave brushes are often decorative; antique handles are often made from materials such as ivory or even gold, though the bristle load may be composed of any number of natural or synthetic materials. The shave brush is used most often today by "wet shavers" in tandem with a double-edged safety razor or a straight razor. However, this is not always the case, as shavers of all varieties may employ the tool.

Taxonomy and naming

Bartramia nothostricta was first formally described in 1987 by David Catcheside and the description was published in Memoirs of the New York Botanic Garden. [3] The specific epithet (nothostricta) is derived from the Ancient Greek word nothos meaning "spurious", "bastard" or "false"' [4] :477 and the Latin word stricta meaning "straight" or "tight". [4] :760

David Guthrie Catcheside FRS was a British plant geneticist.

Botanical name scientific name for a plant (or alga or fungus) (ICNafp)

A botanical name is a formal scientific name conforming to the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN) and, if it concerns a plant cultigen, the additional cultivar or Group epithets must conform to the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP). The code of nomenclature covers "all organisms traditionally treated as algae, fungi, or plants, whether fossil or non-fossil, including blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria), chytrids, oomycetes, slime moulds and photosynthetic protists with their taxonomically related non-photosynthetic groups ."

Ancient Greek Version of the Greek language used from roughly the 9th century BCE to the 6th century CE

The Ancient Greek language includes the forms of Greek used in Ancient Greece and the ancient world from around the 9th century BCE to the 6th century CE. It is often roughly divided into the Archaic period, Classical period, and Hellenistic period. It is antedated in the second millennium BCE by Mycenaean Greek and succeeded by medieval Greek.

Distribution and habitat

This moss species occurs in the Flinders Ranges and Southern Lofty botanical regions of South Australia and in Victoria where it grows on earth banks and near streams. [1] [2] [5]

South Australia State of Australia

South Australia is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of 983,482 square kilometres (379,725 sq mi), it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, and fifth largest by population. It has a total of 1.7 million people, and its population is the second most highly centralised in Australia, after Western Australia, with more than 77 percent of South Australians living in the capital, Adelaide, or its environs. Other population centres in the state are relatively small; Mount Gambier, the second largest centre, has a population of 28,684.

Victoria (Australia) State in Australia

Victoria is a state in south-eastern Australia. Victoria is Australia's smallest mainland state and its second-most populous state overall, thus making it the most densely populated state overall. Most of its population lives concentrated in the area surrounding Port Phillip Bay, which includes the metropolitan area of its state capital and largest city, Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city. Victoria is bordered by Bass Strait and Tasmania to the south, New South Wales to the north, the Tasman Sea to the east, and South Australia to the west.

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References

  1. 1 2 Bell, Graham H. "Bartramia" (PDF). Australian National Botanic Garden. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
  2. 1 2 Read, Cassia; Slattery, Bernard (2015). Mosses of dry forests in south eastern Australia (reprint ed.). Castlemaine: Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests (Mount Alexander Region) Inc. pp. 24–25. ISBN   9780646916934.
  3. "Bartramia nothostricta". Australian Moss Name Index. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
  4. 1 2 Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.
  5. "Bartramia". State Herbarium of South Australia: eflora SA.