Guide to Liverworts of Oregon: Fossombronia wondraczekii (Corda) Dum.
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Fossombronia 1b seta long > Fossombronia 2b lamellae widely spaced on spores > Fossombronia 3b lamellae low > Fossombronia wondraczekii
Synonym: None.
Special Status: None.
Recognition: With the characters of the genus (bright green, ruffly leaves and red-purple rhizoids) this species is distinguished by lamellae which are relatively widely spaced (7-8 across the spore in side view) and less than half as high as they are spaced apart.
Distribution: Restricted to bare mineral soil, this species is poorly known from the west coast. It is documented from California in this treatment but not verified elsewhere in the west.
Comments: Fossombronia wondraczekii has always been a puzzle to me. Its distribution in North America has been unclear from earlier published literature. I have used the name on my collections in early days but haven not trusted my IDs. I have previously confused it with F. pusilla and F. longiseta, well known California and Oregon. The 1977 checklist of North American Liverworts (Stotler and Crandall-Stotler 1977) lists it, and again it is mentioned in the 2017 Synopsis of North American Liverworts (Stotler and Crandall-Stotler 2017). In the latter, a report from Oregon is mentioned.
However, the treatment of Fossombronia for the Flora of North America, vol. 29, the authors (Crandall-Stotler and Bray 2019) write, . . . all reports of this species from California and Oregon are based on misidentifications of F. longiseta
. I have re-examined one of my earliest collections, Muir Woods, Marin County, California (DHW 3042, in 1983). It matches recently published literature on this species. The slide has preserved the spores well. The photomicrographs offered in this edition of the Guide document its presence in California. It is my hope that liverwort enthusiasts in California will review their collections, personal as well in public herbaria. I am expecting more records will turn up.
Fossombronia wondraczekii. Frye & Clark 1937, p 125.
- Muir Woods, Marin county, California DHW 3042. Elater length, upper left to lower right: 250, 220, 235, 190 μm.
- Muir Woods, Marin county, California DHW 3042.
- Muir Woods, Marin county, California DHW 3042.
- Muir Woods, Marin county, California DHW 3042.