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 | |
|---|---|
Scientific 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 Steere & Z.Iwatsuki 1974
| |
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
edit- ^ 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.
- ^ Goffinet, B.; Buck, W.R. "Classification of extant moss genera". Classification of the Bryophyta. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ a b Flora of North America, Pseudoditrichum mirabile Steere & Z. Iwatsuki, 1974.
- ^ 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
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