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Abstract Detail

Recent Topics Posters

Rare and Noteworthy Liverworts of Oregon for Flora of North America, vol. 29.

With the two volumes of mosses just now completed, the third bryophyte volume of the Flora of North America is under production. Volume 29 will cover the hornworts and liverworts. The efforts directed towards this volume have produced a bubble of local interest in the liverworts of Oregon. Special attention has been directed to verifying the occurrence and identity of lesser known taxa. There remain a number of taxa to be described. The genus Rivulariella D.H. Wagner was erected in 2013 to accommodate a rare aquatic, subalpine plant. It was first collected in Utah in 1928. The plants were sterile; described by A. Evans as a species of Chiloscyphus. It was found on Unalaska in the Aleutian Islands in 1967, in Oregon in 1981. Only when fertile material was found in Oregon in 1984 and California in 1987 was it possible to recognize it as an endemic genus for North America, in the Jungermanniaceae. An even more rare aquatic liverwort grows in extensive mats on the bottom of Waldo Lake at depths of up to 120 m. It also grows in nearby streams. Although variously determined as a species of Jungermannia or Jamesoniella, its placement remains unresolved. Lacking female reproductive structures, satisfactory determination may require molecular analysis. Two species are found in North America at only one site in Oregon each. Wilf Schofield found Radula brunnea growing in abundance on Saddle Mountain in the Coastal Mountains. Native to eastern Asia, it is such a distinct plant its identity is undisputed. On the other hand, there is a species of Porella unique to North America that was collected in the Columbia River Gorge in 1920. Most recently it has been compared with eastern Asian species such as P. fauriei and P. japonica. However, it is just as likely a congener of an European species similar to Porella cordaeana. The latter is absent in eastern North America but is abundant in the west as well as in Europe. It appears likely that the relationship of the Columbia River Gorge species is more likely with England than with Japan. A new “Guide to the Liverworts of Oregon” is available that supports the efforts to produce the Flora of North America as well as giving beginners an easy to use electronic publication with over 850 color illustrations.

1 - University of Oregon, Department of Biology, 77 Klamath Hall, 1210 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, 97403

Keywords:
Liverworts
Flora of North America
Rivulariella
Radula brunnea
Porella
Oregon.

Presentation Type: Recent Topics Poster
Session: P
Location: /
Date: Monday, July 28th, 2014
Time: 5:30 PM
Number: PRT030
Abstract ID:1268
Candidate for Awards:None