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Pseudoditrichum

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Pseudoditrichum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Bryophyta
Class: Bryopsida
Subclass: Dicranidae
Order: Pseudoditrichales
Family: Pseudoditrichaceae
Steere & Z.Iwatsuki 1974
Genus: Pseudoditrichum
Steere & Z.Iwatsuki 1974
Species:
P. mirabil
Binomial name
Pseudoditrichum mirabil

Pseudoditrichum is a rare North American genus of haplolepideous moss (Dicranidae). It is the only known genus in its family (Pseudoditrichaceae), and there is only one species in the genus.[1][2] Pseudoditrichum mirabile has been found only in a small area along the Sloan River near Great Bear Lake. This is in the Northwest Territory in northern Canada, only a few kilometers south of the Arctic Circle.[3]

Pseudoditrichum mirabile is unusual in that the combination of the gametophyte features and the sporophyte morphology do not match any other moss family. The entire plant is a mere 3 mm tall, growing on moist silt, generally underneath Populus. It spreads vegetatively by means of spherical underground tubers as well as via narrow, thread-like gemmae. Spores are 15-21 μm long, shed one at a time.[3][4]

References

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  1. ^ Goffinet, B.; Buck, W. R.; Shaw, A. J. (2008). "Morphology and Classification of the Bryophyta". In Goffinet, B.; Shaw, J. (eds.). Bryophyte Biology (2nd ed.). New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 55–138. ISBN 978-0-521-87225-6.
  2. ^ Goffinet, B.; Buck, W.R. "Classification of extant moss genera". Classification of the Bryophyta. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  3. ^ a b Flora of North America, Pseudoditrichum mirabile Steere & Z. Iwatsuki, 1974.
  4. ^ William Campbell Steere, Zennoske Iwatsuki 1974. Pseudoditrichum mirabile gen. et sp. nov. (Musci: Pseudoditrichaceae fam. nov.), a unique moss from Great Bear Lake, Northwest Territories. Canadian Journal of Botany, 1974, 52(4): 701-705, 10.1139/b74-090