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Ricciocarpos

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Ricciocarpos
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Marchantiophyta
Class: Marchantiopsida
Order: Marchantiales
Family: Ricciaceae
Genus: Ricciocarpos
Corda, 1829 [1]
Species:
R. natans
Binomial name
Ricciocarpos natans
Synonyms
  • Riccia capillata Schmid.
  • Riccia lutescens Schw.
  • Riccia natans L.
  • Riccia velutina Wilson
  • Ricciocarpus velutinus Stephani

Ricciocarpos natans (vernacular name: fringed heartwort[citation needed]) is the only species in the genus Ricciocarpos, a genus of liverworts in the family Ricciaceae.[2][3] It was formerly listed in 1759 as a species of Riccia by Linnaeus, but then assigned to a new genus of its own in 1829 by August Carl Joseph Corda.

Despite having many common features with the genus Riccia,[2] its most obvious difference from that genus are the long sword-shaped purple scales that hang from the under surface of floating plants.[4] The genus has occasionally appeared in the literature under the spelling Ricciocarpus, but the spelling with an o is the original and accepted spelling.[5][3] The specific epithet "natans" comes from the Latin word for "swimming", because plants typically float freely in ponds or quiet waters.

Plants of R. natans have two very different forms, depending on the conditions under which the plant grows. One form develops in plants that grow on land (terrestrial), and another form develops when plants grow floating in the water (aquatic). The terrestrial form develops into rosettes 25–35 millimetres across,[6] of short and narrow branches having almost parallel sides. The more usual form is aquatic, and develops as broader, heart-shaped thallus with fewer branchings and long slender purple scales hanging from the underside. The two forms are so physically different from each other that they were originally thought to be different species.[4]

Ricciocarpos is distributed globally, being found almost everywhere except the polar regions[4] though it is rare in parts of the tropics.[7] It may form extensive floating colonies in quiet waters,[8] and grows readily in laboratory cultures.[9] Although fertile plants are not unknown, mature plants bearing spore capsules are rarely found. It is therefore assumed that Ricciocarpos spreads primarily through vegetative reproduction as the plants break apart.[10] It has been suggested that the aquatic forms remain sterile and that sexual reproduction is largely limited to terrestrial forms,[11] but other sources maintain that terrestrial forms are normally sterile as well.[9]

[edit]
  • Terrestrial form of Ricciocarpos
    Terrestrial form of Ricciocarpos
  • Terrestrial form of Ricciocarpos
    Terrestrial form of Ricciocarpos
  • Floating form with long ventral scales visible
    Floating form with long ventral scales visible
  • Aquatic form in autumn with red color
    Aquatic form in autumn with red color

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Corda, A. C. J. 1829: Genera Hepaticarum — in: Opiz, P. M. (ed.) Naturalientausch 12 (Beiträge zur Naturg. 1): 651.
  2. ^ a b Campbell, Douglas H. (1918). The Structure and Development of Mosses and Ferns (revised ed.). London: The Macmillan Co. pp. 39–41.
  3. ^ a b Crandall-Stotler, Barbara; Stotler, Raymond E. (2000). "Morphology and classification of the Marchantiophyta". In A. Jonathan Shaw; Bernard Goffinet (eds.). Bryophyte Biology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 21–70. ISBN 0-521-66097-1.
  4. ^ a b c Schuster, Rudolf M. (1992). The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America. Vol. VI. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History. pp. 413–421. ISBN 0-914868-21-7.
  5. ^ Grolle, Riclef (1983). "Nomina generica Hepaticarum; references, types and synonymies". Acta Botanica Fennica. 121: 1–62.
  6. ^ Howe, Marshall Avery (1923). "Ricciaceae". North American Flora. 14 (1): 26.
  7. ^ Wigginton, M. J., ed. (2004). E.W. Jones's Liverwort and Hornwort Flora of West Africa. Scripta Botanica Belgica. Meise, Belgium: National Botanic Garden. pp. 68–69.
  8. ^ Schofield, W. B. (1985). Introduction to Bryology. New York: Macmillan. p. 310. ISBN 0-02-949660-8.
  9. ^ a b Bold, Harold C.; Alexopoulos, C. J.; Delevoryas, T. (1987). Morphology of Plants and Fungi (5th ed.). New York: Harper-Collins. pp. 190–196. ISBN 0-06-040839-1.
  10. ^ Allison, K. W.; John Child (1975). The Liverworts of New Zealand. Dunedin: University of Otago Press. pp. 243–245.
  11. ^ Kashyap, Shiv Ram. (1929). Liverworts of the Western Himalayas and the Panjab Plain. Vol. I. New Delhi: The Chronica Botanica. pp. 89–90, Plate XIX.
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