Guide to Liverworts of Oregon: Riccardia chamedryfolia (With.) Grolle
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Riccardia 1b oil bodies present in many cells > Riccardia 2a oil bodies present in most epidermal cells > Riccardia chamaedryfolia
Synonym: None.
Special Status: None.
Recognition: Thin green ribbons with pinnate branches characterize this species. The closest look alike is R. multifida, which usually has a unistratose margin two to three cells wide, lacking in R. chamaedryfolia. Oil bodies are nearly absent from the margin or epidermal cells of R. multifida while present in essentially all cells of R. chamaedryfolia.
Distribution: On soil or decaying organic material in very wet places; widespread throughout the region in moist habitats.
Comments: The mention of a Wagner collection under R. incurvata in Schuster (1992) was based on a population of this species. I had sent Schuster a dried, sterile specimen and a photograph of its lunate cross section, with the suggestion it might be R. incurvata. He accepted this determination and mentioned it in his book. I later revisited the population and found it was monoicous and had the oil body characters of R. chamaedryfolia. In our area this species often has a cross section that mimimics Riccardia incurvata. Riccardia incurvata does not appear to occur in North America. The mention of this species from North America in Damsholt (2002) is based on the erroneous footnote in Schuster.
Riccardia chamaedryfolia, Yaquina Head, Licoln County, Oregon. DHW m2245a.
Riccardia chamaedryfolia, Yaquina Head, Licoln County, Oregon. DHW m2245a.
Riccardia chamaedryfolia, Yaquina Head, Licoln County, Oregon. DHW m2245a.