Brachythecium rivulare |
Brachythecium bolanderi |
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Brachythecium moss, river ragged-moss |
Bolander's Brachythecium moss |
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Habit | Plants large, occasionally medium-sized, in loose to moderately dense mats, light to dark green, yellow-green, or brownish yellow. | Plants small, in loose to moderately dense mats, yellow-green to brownish or dark green. |
Stem(s) | leaves erect-appressed, often rigidly spreading in sympodial stems, closely imbricate, broadly ovate, broadest at 1/7 leaf length, concave, not plicate, slightly, or rarely moderately plicate, 1.5–2.5 × 0.8–1.5 mm; base rounded, broadly long-decurrent; margins plane or recurved at places, serrulate throughout (often serrate in sympodial stems); apex gradually tapered, broadly acute, rarely short-acuminate; costa to 50–70% leaf length, strong, terminal spine indistinct or absent; alar cells short-rectangular, strongly enlarged, 20–50 × 15–30(–35) µm, walls thin, region abruptly delimited, large, of 8–15 × 8–15 cells, somewhat saclike, reaching from near margin 50% distance to costa; laminal cells linear, 50–100 (–150) × 6–11 µm; basal cells 15–35 × 11–15 µm, region in 3 rows. |
leaves erect-spreading, loosely imbricate to distant, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, broadest at 1/10–1/6 leaf length, slightly concave, not or slightly plicate, 0.6–1.4 × 0.4–0.6 mm; base rounded, narrowly short-decurrent; margins plane or rarely recurved in places, serrulate throughout; apex gradually tapered or short-acuminate; costa to 60–75% leaf length, strong, terminal spine present; alar cells quadrate to short-rectangular, same size as or smaller than adjacent basal cells, 10–15 × 10–12 µm, walls moderately thick, region inconspicuous, of 2–5 × 2–4 cells; laminal cells linear, 25–60 × 5–8 µm; basal cells weakly differentiated, inconspicuous, 25–40 × 9–12 µm, region in 1 or 2 rows. |
Branch leaves | more spreading, ovate-lanceolate, 2–3:1; costal terminal spine present; alar region conspicuous or not; laminal cells enlarged across base. |
more elliptic, 0.7–0.8 × 0.2–0.4 mm; costal terminal spine with several distal teeth. |
Seta | red-brown, 2–2.5 cm, rough. |
red-brown, 1–2.5 cm, rough. |
Sexual condition | dioicous. |
dioicous. |
Capsule | inclined to horizontal, red-brown or dark brown, ovate to elongate, curved, 2–2.5 mm; annulus separating by fragments; operculum long-conic. |
horizontal, red-brown, ovate-ventricose, curved, 1–1.6 mm; annulus separating by fragments; operculum long-conic. |
Spores | 13–18(–22) µm. |
9–12 µm. |
Brachythecium rivulare |
Brachythecium bolanderi |
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Habitat | Soil in wet places, wet semiliquid peat in alder and sedge swamps, alluvial sand banks along streams, temporary flooding depressions in xeric areas, wet mountain tundra, rock, logs, affected by temporary flooding | Soil |
Elevation | low to high elevations (0-3400 m) (low to high elevations (0-11200 ft)) | moderate elevations (400-1500 m) (moderate elevations (1300-4900 ft)) |
Distribution |
AK; AL; AR; AZ; CO; CT; DE; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MT; NC; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NL; NS; NT; ON; QC; SK; YT; Atlantic Islands; Australia; Pacific Islands; Greenland; Africa; Asia; Europe; Subantarctic Islands
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CA; OR |
Discussion | Brachythecium rivulare occurs in most states and provinces but is absent in the southeastern United States. Although B. rivulare was reported from California, no collection was confirmed (many specimens proved to be atypical phenotypes of B. frigidum). The plants form whitish green soft mats near spring water but become rigid and olive brownish when affected by strong currents. In all cases, B. rivulare is somewhat dendroid and distinguished by the peculiar alar group that is somewhat saclike, composed of strongly enlarged thin-walled cells reaching to the margins; in B. frigidum and B. rutabulum, that may consist of a fairly large pellucid group in leaf corners, but the region never reaches the margins where cells are relatively narrow and rectangular in several rows and often rich in chloroplasts. This character is sometimes difficult to find in phenotypes that have extensive sympodial branching and are also regularly pinnate. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Brachythecium bolanderi occurs mainly in California; E. Lawton (1971) reported it from Oregon. Superficially, B. bolanderi resembles small and short-leaved phenotypes of Brachytheciastrum velutinum and Brachytheciastrum fendleri; it differs from the former in its shorter leaves and shorter cells (6–8:1 versus 8–12:1), and from the latter in having erect-spreading and loosely imbricate to distantly arranged leaves rather than erect-appressed and closely imbricate leaves. Small plants of Oxyrrhynchium hians may also be similar, but the branch leaves of O. hians are broader. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 28, p. 418. | FNA vol. 28, p. 416. |
Parent taxa | Brachytheciaceae > Brachythecium | Brachytheciaceae > Brachythecium |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Hypnum bolanderi, Bryhnia bolanderi | |
Name authority | Schimper: in P. Bruch and W. P. Schimper, Bryol. Europ. 6: 17, plate 546. (1853) | (Lesquereux) A. Jaeger: Ber. Thätigk. St. Gallischen Naturwiss. Ges. 1876 – 1877: 324. (1878) |
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