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Andreaea mutabilis

(Andreaea Moss)

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Andreaea Moss

Description

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Family Andreaeaceae

Plants dark green to black, small to large, often in dense turf . Stems erect , irregularly branched, bearing rhizoids at base ; central strand absent. Leaves erect or secund , sometimes falcate-secund, short- to long-lanceolate or panduriform; costa absent or single or branched, narrow to broad, percurrent or ending before the apex; in section of uniform cells , lamellae absent; margins plane to weakly incurved , seldom recurved; laminal cells short throughout or occasionally elongate in leaf base, 1-stratose or 2- to multistratose. Specialized asexual reproduction rare, as filamentous gemmae from laminal cells. Sexual condition usually autoicous , mainly cladautoicous but occasionally gonioautoicous or dioicous; perichaetial leaves commonly differentiated, larger, convolute-sheathing. Sporophytes terminal on an elongate gametophytic stalk , the pseudopodium. Seta essentially absent. Capsule erect, elliptic , opening by usually 4 lateral longitudinal valves ; stomata, annulus, operculum and peristome absent. Calyptra tiny, campanulate-mitrate, often fugacious . Spores spheric, oval or tetrahedral , small to large, 10 to occasionally more than 100 µm, papillose .

Genus 1, species ca. 45 (11 in the flora ) : cosmopolitan .

The Andreaeaceae shares with Sphagnaceae the sporophyte raised on a pseudopodium, but the spore sac is derived from the endothecium, not the amphithecium as in the latter family . The spore sac arches over the massive, persistent columella. The longitudinal valves bulge open when the capsules are dry, closing when wet. Erect, thallose protonemal appendages are common and distinctive.[1]

Genus Andreaea

Plants commonly cemented to substrate. Stems with stalked mucilage hairs in leaf axils , stalks usually brown. Leaves spiraling around stem in several rows , usually brittle, commonly ending in a distinct apiculus of a single cell ; costa sometimes poorly differentiated, sometimes not reaching the leaf insertion ; laminal cells with thick longitudinal walls and often pitted or sinuose, transverse walls thin. Capsule 0.5-2 mm.

Species about 45: cosmopolitan .

Andreaea is easily recognized in the field by the dark green to blackish dense turf strongly adherent to a rock habitat , the brittle leaves, and capsule opening by four longitudinal lateral slits. These species are largely temperate montane to arctic-alpine in distribution, not uncommon on exposed acid rock surfaces. The present treatment follows B . M. Murray's (1987, 1988, 1988b) detailed and thorough study closely except that Andreaea alpestris is treated as a synonym of A. rupestris and A. crassinervia as a synonym of A. rothii, following M. F. V. Corley et al. (1981), while infraspecific taxa are not recognized. The costa may be interpreted as strongly excurrent when it fills the leaf subula.[2]

Physical Description

Species Andreaea mutabilis

Plants reddish to black. Leaves erect-spreading, straight or sometimes secund , lanceolate, widest proximally, apex symmetric ; costa absent; leaf margins entire; basal laminal cells rectangular to long-rectangular, marginal cells quadrate , walls little pitted ; medial laminal cells rounded-quadrate to ovate , 1-stratose entirely or sometimes 2-stratose in patches distally, lumens rounded ; laminal papillae rare, low. Sexual condition cladautoicous ; perichaetial leaves differentiated, convolute-sheathing. Spores 12-20(-30) µm. [source]

Habit: Nonvascular

Habitat

Acidic rock faces , occasionally thin soil; moderate elevations (Ref. 51640).

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 1,822 meters (0 to 5,978 feet).[3]

Taxonomy

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Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 19-Jul-2004

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Andreaea

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 14 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

A. alpestris (Andreaea Moss) · A. blyttii (Blytt's Andreaea Moss) · A. crassinervia (Andreaea Moss) · A. heinemannii (Heinemann's Andreaea Moss) · A. megistospora (Andreaea Moss) · A. megistospora B.Murr. var. epapillosa (B.Murr.) Crum & Anderson (Andreaea Moss) · A. mutabilis (Andreaea Moss) · A. nivalis (Andreaea Moss) · A. obovata (Obovate Andreaea Moss) · A. rothii (Roth's Andreaea Moss) · A. rupestris var. papillosa (Andreaea Moss) · A. rupestris var. rupestris (Andreaea Moss) · A. schofieldiana (Schofield's Andreaea Moss) · A. sinuosa (Andreaea Moss)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 27, 2008:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Richard H. Zander "Andreaeaceae". in Flora of North America Vol Page. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  2. "Andreaea". in Flora of North America Vol. 27 Page 3, 10, 11, 43, 102, 103, 108, 109. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  3. Mean = 238.720 meters (783.202 feet), Standard Deviation = 1,331.440 based on 187 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
Last Revised: 7/15/2012