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tasmanian liverworts - jungermanniaceae

anastrophyllum schismoides

Anastrophyllum schismoides
Anastrophyllum schismoides

 

A single stem came in with small quantities of Jamesoniella colorata, Cuspidatula monodon and a Lepidozia growing on an exposed boulder at 780m altitude. It is probably not a common species here but not easy to distinguish in the field when mixed with other bryophytes.

This is one of the few liverwort species that seems to prefer exposure to light and is reported to be shade intolerant.

Looking through the literature we were intrigued to discover conflicting reports about this liverwort.

Substrate:
a) Meagher reports this as an epiphyte in his Victorian key
b) Engel & Glenny state this is usually found growing on soil in New Zealand with only one record of it as growing on a tree
c) as stated above, our specimen was a lithophyte, growing on rock
leading us to conclude that this is a little studied species that has a wide range of substrates.


leaf cells

Oil bodies:
a) University of Tasmania's key to liverworts reports this having 2-8 oil bodies
b) Engel & Glenny's key for the genus reduces this to 2-3 (p.675) while their cell diagrams (p.684) show 3-6 oil bodies
c) our specimen has 3-6 oil bodies as depicted in the image on right.

We are reserving our opinion on these differences until we examine more populations.

 

Literature
- Engel, J.J. & Glenny, D., A Flora of the Liverworts and Hornworts of New Zealand, Vol 1, p. 673-685; ISBN 978-1-930723-67-2
- Meagher, D. 'Studies on Victorian bryophytes 5. Key to leafy liverworts' in Victorian Naturalist Vol. 123(4) August 2006 pp 236-247
- University of Tasmania page on Anastrophyllum

Page URL: http://www.bluetier.org/Liverwort/anastrophyllum-schismoides.htm

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