SPECIES FACT SHEET
Common Name: Physcomitrella moss
Scientific Name: Physcomitrella patens
Division: Bryophyta
Class: Bryopsida
Order: Funariales
Family: Funariaceae
Technical Description: Plants ephemeral, minute, erect, green to
yellowish-green. Stems 2-5 mm long, often forked, lower stems evident.
Leaves pale green, 1.0-3 x 0.5-0.8 mm, oblong lanceolate to obovate,
spreading, plane to flexuose when dry, broadly acute, the cells large and
thin-walled, costa extending about 2/3 the length of the leaf, margins
serrulate above the middle. Capsules single, sessile, spherical, with a
small point (apiculus) at summit, 0.5-0.75 mm in diameter, immersed
among the leaves, rupturing irregularly with no line of dehiscence
(cleistocarpous). Distinctive characters: (1) Pigmy moss on damp soil,
(2) immersed capsules with no line of dehiscence, (3) leaves fairly broad,
plane, the cells lax, with margins serrulate above the middle, (3) costa
ending below the apex. Similar species: Most of the ephemeral pigmy
mosses are of similar size but can be separated by leaf characters and
capsules. Physcomitrium immersum has relatively broad and pale
spreading leaves, capsules wider than long, a long-beaked operculum, a
persistent calyptra, and an obvious line of dehiscence on the capsule;
when dry, the capsules look like a squashed pie, often with the
operculum depressed in the center but the beak still prominent.
Phascum cuspidatum has pale, broad oblong-ovate, usually papillose and
conspicuously costate leaves that are contorted when dry, enveloping the
ovoid to ellipsoid capsule like a clove of garlic. Ephemerum and
Micromitrium are much smaller and have dark, long-acuminate,
spreading leaves with sessile, sphaerical or apiculate capsules; plants of
Ephemerum are sessile while those of Micromitrium are stalked.
Pleuridium subulatum has yellowish, very narrow (subulate), erect leaves
2-4 mm long, distinctly ellipsoid or ovoid capsules to 0.7 mm long, and
distinct setae to 1 mm long. Physcomitrium pyriforme is much larger than
other pigmy mosses (plants with capsules 10-25 mm tall) but is still
ephemeral; it has relatively broad and pale spreading leaves, its capsules
exserted on setae up to 1 cm long, and it grows on drier disturbed sites.
Other descriptions and illustrations: Smith 1978: 346; Tan 1978: 561;
Crum and Anderson 1981: 456; Crum 1983: 140; Noguchi 1988: 402;
Goffinet 2005.
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Life History: Physcomitrella patens is an ephemeral pigmy moss that
completes its life cycle within three or four months of germination,
enabling it to colonize temporary habitats in which competition from
other plants is at a minimum. When water levels begin to recede in July,
spores germinate and form an extensive felty protonema over damp soil.
The protonema forms buds and shoots and a turf of leafy plants develops
as the protonema disappears. Capsules mature in late summer and fall
before winter rains inundate the habitat.
Range, Distribution, and Abundance: Europe, Asia, eastern and
western North America. In the Pacific Northwest, known from British
Columbia, Oregon, and California. First reported from the Pacific
Northwest by Tan (1978), but collected in Oregon by L.F. Henderson as
early as 1887 near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers,
where it still occurs.
National Forests: none documented or suspected. BLM Districts: none
documented; suspected on the Eugene and Salem districts in suitable
floodplain tracts in low-elevation interior valleys of western Oregon.
Rare throughout its range but it may be abundant locally. Probably
undercollected.
Habitat Associations: Forming small to extensive turfs on beds and
banks of seasonal lakes, ponds, and streams at elevations below 500
feet. Partial shade to full exposure. In the Pacific Northwest, these
habitats occur on the beds seasonal lakes, ponds, and streams that are
inundated in winter and spring but exposed by late summer. All known
populations in the Northwest occur on floodplains and have only been
collected between September and November. Associated vegetation is a
distinctive assemblage of annual flowering plants, including Eragrostis
hypnoides, Crassula aquatica, Limosella aquatica, Ludwigia palustris,
Eleocharis ovata, Polygonum hydropiperoides, and Gnaphalium palustre.
Woody species, when present, include Fraxinus oregana, Salix lucida ssp.
lasiandra, Quercus garryana, and Salix sitchensis. Not yet known from
seasonally wet prairie, but it should be sought in these habitats.
Threats: Drainage or filling of seasonal ponds and trampling by livestock
are the primary threats. Current wetland laws permit fills of less than 50
cubic yards, and drainage of small seasonal wetlands is not regulated. If
seasonal lakes and ponds dry out early in the season, reed canary grass
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(Phalaris arundinacea) can invade and eliminate habitat for
Physcomitrella patens. Livestock usually avoid seasonal lakes and ponds
when they are too wet and muddy, but if these are their only source of
water they will follow the receding water levels out onto the lakebed and
trample the ephemeral vegetation. Physcomitrella patens is currently a
popular subject internationally for molecular research, but field
collecting for research use in the Pacific Northwest is probably a minor
threat because the species is more easily cultivated in the laboratory
than found in quantity in the field.
Conservation Considerations: Physcomitrella patens is tiny and easily
overlooked. Relocate known populations and survey for new populations
in order to reevaluate its conservation status. Seasonal flooding can be
restored at artificially drained sites. If reed canary grass threatens to
invade the habitat, extending flooding into midsummer can significantly
reduce its numbers without affecting Physcomitrella, as long as the
substrate is exposed by mid to late summer. For known sites, if
threatened by livestock, consider measures to protect wetland margins
(fencing, seasonal rotations).
Conservation rankings: Global: G4; National: NNR. Oregon: S1, List 2;
British Columbia: S1, Red List. Not known from Washington.
Preparer: John A. Christy
Date Completed: August 2006. Revised May 2007 with edits from Rob Huff, Russ
Holmes, and Daphne Stone.
Revised by Lara Drizd, November 2012
(Revision only adds Attachment 1, Photos).
ATTACHMENTS:
(1)
Photos
References
Crum, H. 1983. Mosses of the Great Lakes Forest. 3rd edition. University
of Michigan Herbarium, Ann Arbor. 417 pp.
_______ & L.E. Anderson. 1981. Mosses of Eastern North America. 2
volumes. Columbia University Press, New York. 1328 pp.
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Goffinet, B. 2005. Physcomitrella. Version 1. Bryophyte Flora of North
America, Provisional Publication, Missouri Botanical Garden.
http://www.mobot.org/plantscience/bfna/V1/FunaPhyscomitrella.htm
Merrifield, K. 1991. Bryophyte flora of William L. Finley National Wildlife
Refuge, Willamette Valley, Oregon. Madroño 48: 17-24.
Noguchi, A. 1988. Illustrated Moss Flora of Japan. Volume 2. Hattori
Botanical Laboratory. Nichinan, Japan. 248 pp.
Norris, D.H. & J.R. Shevock. 2004. Contributions toward a bryoflora of
California: I. A specimen-based catalogue of mosses. Madroño 51: 1131.
Oregon Natural Heritage Information Center. 2007. Rare, threatened and
endangered species of Oregon. Oregon Natural Heritage Information
Center, Oregon State University. Portland. 100 pp.
http://oregonstate.edu/ornhic/2007_t&e_book.pdf
Smith, A.J.E. 1978. The Moss Flora of Britain and Ireland. Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge. 706 pp.
Tan, B.C. 1978. Physcomitrella patens (Musci: Funariaceae) in North
America. Bryologist 81: 561-567.
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Attachment 1 – Photos
All photos by J. Harpel, under contract with the Oregon/Washington Bureau of Land
Management.
Whole mount wet
Whole mount dry
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Whole sporophyte
Sporophyte
Ruptured sporophyte
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Upper medial cells
Leaf apex
Alar and basal cells
Exothecial cells
Whole leaf
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