Marsupella profunda | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Division: | Marchantiophyta |
Class: | Jungermanniopsida |
Order: | Jungermanniales |
Family: | Gymnomitriaceae |
Genus: | Marsupella |
Species: | M. profunda |
Binomial name | |
Marsupella profunda | |
Marsupella profunda, the western rustwort, [2] is a liverwort native to Europe and known only from Portugal (Mainland, Azores and Madeira) and Great Britain (Cornwall) and has been sighted in the Canary Islands. [1] [3] It is a small reddish liverwort and can be confused with Marsupella sprucei which has a more widespread distribution. [3]
Marsupella profunda is a saxicolous plant, commonly found on open but shady sites, in wet rock crevices or on slopes. [1] It has a very disjunct population, from Santa Maria Island and Madeira Island in Macaronesia to mountainous areas in Continental Portugal, to Cornwall in England. The species was also sighted in La Palma on the Canary Islands though its presence on the archipelago is not confirmed. [1]
Less than 1000 individuals are known, occupying an area of about 208 square kilometres (80 sq mi) from 100 to 1,200 metres (330 to 3,940 ft) in altitude. [1]
In Portugal the species is mainly reported from the Peneda-Gerês National Park, the Serra da Estrela Natural Park, the Serra de São Mamede Natural Park, the Alvão/Marão ranges and, to some degree, the Monchique Range. [1]
The species is rare in Britain; it is known from just ten locations, all in Cornwall. These sites at Lower Bostraze and Leswidden, St Austell Clay Pits and Tregonning Hill, are all protected as Sites of Special Scientific Interest. [4] [5] [6]
Within Cornwall, western rustwort is generally found growing on micaceous or clay waste substrates which are flat or gently sloping. Some patches occur on granitic rocks, usually where these are soft or crumbling. It appears to be a pioneer species, the largest populations being found on surfaces showing the early stages of colonisation by other bryophytes and by vascular plants. [5] New plants develop and grow rapidly from spores, while older plants disappear as they are shaded out by surrounding vegetation. [3] It disappeared from at least six Cornish sites between 1971 and 2005 due to shading from European gorse ( Ulex europaeus ) and bramble ( Rubus fruticosus agg.) [7]
This liverwort is rare in all parts of its range and is known from only a few sites in each locality where it is present. The species has several conservation designations. It is listed on Schedule 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, in Appendix 1 of the Bern Convention, [3] and as a 'priority species' in Annex II of the European Community Habitats and Species Directive (1992). [3] [8]
Annex II means areas in which it occurs can be declared Special Areas of Conservation, if these areas belong to one of the number of habitats listed in Annex I of the directive. [8]
Lower Bostraze And Leswidden SSSI is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, located on the Penwith Peninsula, Cornwall, England, a little to the east of St Just, approximately 8 km west of Penzance.
Bryology is the branch of botany concerned with the scientific study of bryophytes. Bryologists are people who have an active interest in observing, recording, classifying or researching bryophytes. The field is often studied along with lichenology due to the similar appearance and ecological niche of the two organisms, even though bryophytes and lichens are not classified in the same kingdom.
Jamesoniella undulifolia, the marsh flapwort, or marsh earwort, is a species of liverwort in the Jungermanniaceae family. It is found in Austria, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greenland, North Korea, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Its natural habitat is swamps. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Spruceanthus theobromae is a species of liverwort in the family Lejeuneaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador. Its natural habitat is lowland evergreen forest, and it is threatened by habitat loss. A 2000 IUCN assessment reported it remained only on five tree trunks at one site, and characterized it as Critically Endangered.
The flora of Scotland is an assemblage of native plant species including over 1,600 vascular plants, more than 1,500 lichens and nearly 1,000 bryophytes. The total number of vascular species is low by world standards but lichens and bryophytes are abundant and the latter form a population of global importance. Various populations of rare fern exist, although the impact of 19th-century collectors threatened the existence of several species. The flora is generally typical of the north-west European part of the Palearctic realm and prominent features of the Scottish flora include boreal Caledonian forest, heather moorland and coastal machair. In addition to the native varieties of vascular plants there are numerous non-native introductions, now believed to make up some 43% of the species in the country.
Bryoerythrophyllum caledonicum, commonly known as Scottish beardmoss, is a moss endemic to Scotland. Recognised as a distinct species in 1982, it had been collected occasionally from 1891 onwards under other names. The largest populations are in the Breadalbane mountains including Ben Lawers with smaller populations in mainland Lochaber and on the islands of Skye and Rùm. It has a very restricted habitat, growing only on damp montane schist or basalt ledges. The species has been provisionally classified as Low Risk and receives protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
Marsupella arctica, commonly known as Arctic rustwort, is a species of liverwort found in the Northern Hemisphere. It is present in Alaska and Greenland and has a European distribution confined to Scotland and Svalbard. The Scottish population was first discovered in 1989 and is restricted to two sites in the Cairngorm mountains - the Lairig Ghru and Beinn a' Bhùird.
Tregonning Hill is the westerly of two granite hills overlooking Mount's Bay in west Cornwall, United Kingdom, the other being Godolphin Hill. They are approximately 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) west of the town of Helston. The Plymouth chemist William Cookworthy mixed china stone with kaolin, mined from the hill to make Plymouth porcelain in 1768; which was the first time hard-paste porcelain was made in Britain. Part of the hill is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and at the date of notification (1994) was the only known site of western rustwort in Great Britain.
Zygodon gracilis, the slender yokemoss, is a moss species in the genus Zygodon. It is a rare lithophyte found to only grow on certain localities of limestone outcrops that has high calcium carbonate content. The current global conservation status of Z. gracilis is considered to be "imperiled".
St Austell Clay Pits, are a group of locations within active china clay quarries that form a single Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Special Area of Conservation, noted for its biological characteristics. In particular, the site is known for the rare western rustwort, a plant that grows only at two other sites in the UK.
Phoenix United Mine is a disused 19th century copper and tin mine in Cornwall, England, UK. Heavy metals left over in the soil from the mining operations have allowed mosses and lichens to flourish, and today the site is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), noted for its biological characteristics.
The West Cornwall Bryophytes Site of Special Scientific Interest is a group of seven locations of former mining activity, that form a single SSSI and Important Plant Area in western Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The site is noted for its biological characteristics and derives its name from the rare bryophyte species found there.
Calaminarian grassland is grassland where the process of seral succession has been halted due to the toxicity of soils containing high levels of toxic metal ions. These habitats may be semi-natural on naturally exposed deposits, or the result of mining, or from erosion by rivers, sometimes including washed-out mine workings.
Petalophyllum ralfsii, the petalwort, is a liverwort of the order Fossombroniales. It is a small green bryophyte that occurs in the Mediterranean region as far east as Turkey, and along the Atlantic coast of Europe as far as northwest Scotland. It grows primarily on moist sand dunes.
Ptilidium ciliare is a liverwort with the common names ciliated fringewort and northern naugehyde liverwort. It is widespread in Canada, Alaska, the northeastern United States, Greenland, Iceland, and northern Europe occasionally as far south as northern Italy.
Mylia taylorii, or Taylor's flapwort, is a species of leafy liverwort.
Ditrichum cornubicum, commonly known as the Cornish path-moss, is a moss endemic to Cornwall, United Kingdom. First discovered in 1963, on a roadside west of Lanner, Cornwall by Jean Paton, it has since been found in two other places within Cornwall. It was published as new to science in 1976.
Petalophyllum, or petalwort, is a genus of liverworts in the order Fossombroniales.
Jean Annette Paton is a British botanist, bryologist and botanical illustrator. She has written many books on the bryology of the United Kingdom and the flora of Cornwall, and described several new species.
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