SPECIES FACT SHEET
Common Name: Bog pouchwort
Scientific Name: Calypogeia sphagnicola (Arn. & Perss.) Warnst. &
Loeske
Division: Marchantiophyta (incorrectly called Hepatophyta in U.S.
government taxon databases (e.g., ITIS 2008); see Stotler and CrandallStotler 2008)
Class: Jungermanniopsida
Order: Jungermanniales
Family: Calypogeiaceae
Nomenclatural Note: Calypogeja is a variant spelling that has been
frequently used for the genus. The conservation of Calypogeia was
approved by the International Botanical Congress in Berlin (Taxon
37:439. 1988).
Technical Description: Plants leafy, occurring as single or sparsely
grouped pale whitish-green shoots twining among the heads and stems
of Sphagnum. Leaves incubous, barely overlapping to more typically
widely spaced, the margins closest to the base of the shoot (proximal)
spreading at an angle of about 45º. The leaf apex is usually pointed and
rarely two-lobed. Underleaves two-lobed (bifid), the sinus between the
lobes extending one-third to halfway down the leaf, the outer margins
rounded and lacking shoulders. Oil-bodies usually few, composed of 1-3
segments. Plants are usually always sterile. Distinctive characters: (1)
Usually restricted to Sphagnum; (2) leaves widely spaced on pale shoots;
(3) cells 40-45 µm long; (4) oil-bodies few segmented. Similar species:
Calypogeia muelleriana has rounded leaf tips, heterogeneous oil-bodies
composed of small globules of various sizes that look like well-chewed
pieces of chewing gum, and its underleaves are only shallowly bilobed.
Calypogeia fissa is darker green than C. sphagnicola but still pale, has
larger cells (ave. >50 µm long), more closely overlapping leaves that may
have two small lobes or teeth at the tips, and its underleaves are deeply
bifid with a shoulder or bump on the outer margin. Calypogeia azurea is
a pale bluish-green and live plants have striking blue oil bodies. In the
Pacific Northwest, these other species of Calypogeia occur on soil or
decaying wood in both forests and wetlands, but only rarely on
Sphagnum. Other descriptions and illustrations: Frye and Clark 1946:
680; Schuster 1953: 541; Mueller 1957: 1171; Schuster 1969: 133; Hong
1990: 317; Smith 1990: 41; Crum 1991: 65; Paton 1999: 87.
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Life History: Details for this species are not documented. In leafy
liverworts, the protonema is reduced and short-lived. Capsules are also
short-lived, produced on delicate transparent stems that collapse after
the capsules open, usually within a week of maturity. Capsules usually
develop in early summer, depending on elevation.
Range, Distribution, and Abundance: Circumboreal and bipolar. In the
Pacific Northwest, known from British Columbia, Washington, Montana,
and Oregon.
National Forests: documented from the Mt. Hood, Okanogan (Hong
1980), Umpqua, and Willamette forests; suspected on forests in and west
of the Cascade Range. Documented from Olympic National Park (Hutten
et al. 2005). BLM Districts: documented from the Coos Bay Medford, and
Salem Districts, suspected by Eugene.
Uncommon throughout its range, probably undercollected.
Habitat Associations: Usually restricted to poor fens containing
Sphagnum. In the Pacific Northwest it usually occurs in associations of
Ledum glandulosum or L. groenlandicum, Myrica gale, Vaccinium
uliginosum, and Kalmia microphylla in the Sitka spruce, western
hemlock, and silver fir zones. Other species usually present include
Sphagnm fuscum, Sphagnum palustre, Sphagnum capillifolium,
Sphagnum rubellum, Cephalozia connivens, Cephalozia lunulifolia, Mylia
anomala, Drosera rotundifolia, Darlingtonia californica, Tofieldia glutinosa,
and Trientalis europaea ssp. arctica. Despite being best known from
acidic fen habitats, in Oregon Calypogeia sphagnicola also has been
collected in a fen on ultramafic soils where calciphiles are sometimes
found on base-rich substrates. Schuster (1953) also reported it from
calcareous microhabitats within acidic poor fens and bogs.
Threats: Over the last century, fen habitats have been impacted by
grazing, water diversion, water impoundment, drainage projects, road
construction, commercial harvest of peat and sphagnum moss, and
succession in the absence of fire. Changes in water regime, nutrient
inputs, and succession lead to the disappearance of fen communities
and species. Federal and state regulations prohibit building new roads in
wetlands, but dust from nearby roads can alter pH in fens and smother
small plants such as bryophytes. Livestock trample and destroy
bryophyte cover. Commercial collecting of peat depletes bryophyte
diversity in mires, although some species require periodic disturbance.
Many peatlands are converting to forest in the absence of fire and few
new peatlands are forming. Scientific collecting can also deplete
populations of Calypogeia sphagnicola.
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Conservation Considerations: Revisit known localities to reconfirm
presence of populations, and conduct searches for new populations. At
known sites or in potential habitat, manage peatlands to maintain
hydrology, peat formation processes, and fen species composition.
Conservation rankings: Global: G4; National: NNR; Oregon: S2, List 2;
Washington has not yet compiled a working list of rare liverworts. British
Columbia: S2S3, Blue List; Not reported from California (Doyle and
Stotler 2006).
Preparer: John A. Christy
Date Completed: June 2007
Edited by: Rob Huff, July 2007
Updated by: Candace Fallon, May 2009 (Update added Attachment 1, Photos, to
the Species Fact Sheet).Updated by: David Wagner, May 2010 (Revised Scientific
Name, Technical Description). Updated by: Rob Huff, April 2011 (Updated field
unit documented site status)
ATTACHMENTS:
(1) Photos
References
Christy, J.A. & D.H. Wagner. 1996. Guide for the identification of rare,
threatened or sensitive bryophytes in the range of the northern
spotted owl, western Washington, western Oregon and northwestern
California. USDI Bureau of Land Management, Oregon-Washington
State Office, Portland. 222 pp.
Crum, H.A. 1991. Liverworts and hornworts of southern Michigan.
University of Michigan Herbarium, Ann Arbor. 233 pp.
Doyle, W.T. & R.E. Stotler. 2006. Contributions toward a bryoflora of
California III. Keys and annotated species catalogue for liverworts and
hornworts. Madroño 53: 89-197.
Frye, T.C. & L. Clark. 1946. Hepaticae of North America. Volume 4.
University of Washington Publications in Biology 6: 565-733.
Hong, W.S. 1980. Hepaticae of the North Cascades Range, Washington.
Bryologist 83: 94-102.
Hong, W.S. 1990. The family Calypogeiaceae in North America west of
the Hundredth Meridian. Bryologist 93: 313-318.
Hutten, M., A. Woodward & K. Hutten. 2005. Inventory of the mosses,
liverworts, hornworts, and lichens of Olympic National Park,
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Washington: species list. U.S. Geological Survey, Scientific
Investigations Report 2005-5240. 78 pp.
Mueller, K. 1957. Die Lebermoose Europas. Part 2. In Rabenhorst's
Kryptogamen Flora, Volume 6, 3rd ed. Leipzig.
Paton, J.A. 1999. The liverwort flora of the British Isles. Harley Books,
Colchester, U.K. 626 pp.
Schuster, R.M. 1953. Boreal Hepaticae, a manual of the liverworts of
Minnesota and adjacent regions. American Midland Naturalist 49:
257-684.
Schuster, R.M. 1969. The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America.
Volume 2. Columbia University Press, New York.
Smith, A.J.E. 1990. The Liverworts of Britain and Ireland. Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge. 362 pp.
Stotler, R.E. and B. Crandall-Stotler. 2008. Correct author citations for
some upper rank names of liverworts (Marchantiophyta). Taxon 57:
289-292.
Attachment 1 – Photos
All photos by David Wagner, under contract with the Oregon/Washington Bureau of
Land Management.
Shoot
4
Shoot segment
Underleaves
5
Oil-bodies
6