SPECIES FACT SHEET
Common Name: Oeder’s Apple-moss
Scientific Name: Plagiopus oederiana (Sw.) Crum & Anderson
Recent synonyms: Plagiopus oederi (Brid.) Limpr.
Division: Bryophyta
Class: Bryopsida
Order: Bryales
Family: Bartramiaceae
Taxonomic Note: In 1981, Crum and Anderson made a new
combination of Plagiopus oederi (Gunn.) Limpr. and Bartramia oederiana
Sw. to form the current accepted name of P. oederiana (Sw.) Crum &
Anderson. The species ending was later changed from oederiana to
oederianus. However, because the current ITIS and USDA Plants
databases currently do not recognize Plagiopus oederianus as the valid
name, we have continued to use Plagiopus oederiana for this fact sheet.
Lawton (1971) uses P. oederi (Brid.) Limpr.
Technical Description: Plants in dense, dull green to yellowish-brown
tufts up to 10 cm tall; stems ± covered with brown rhizoids, triangular in
cross-section; leaves linear-lanceolate, acute, keeled, 2–5 mm long, erect
to spreading when moist, somewhat crisped and contorted when dry;
margins unistratose, recurved, coarsely serrate above, smooth below;
costa single, percurrent, toothed near the apex on dorsal side; upper
median cells quadrate to rectangular, cuticle irregularly roughened in
longitudinal lines or ridges appearing as minutely plurepapillose; basal
cells longer and smooth. Synoicous; paraphyses numerous; seta
straight, 7–18 mm long; capsules ± globose, brown to reddish-brown,
zygomorphic, suberect to inclined, strongly ribbed when dry; peristome
teeth double, endostome yellow, exostome dark brown; spores coarsely
papillose, globose to ellipsoidal, 15–27µm.
Distinctive characters: (1) triangular stem cross-sections, and (2) lack
of true papillae.
Similar species: The strongly unipapillose leaf cells and rounded stem
cross-sections separate Bartramia pomiformis from P. oederianus, a
similar looking species.
Other descriptions and illustrations: Crum & Anderson (1981),
Ireland (1982), Lawton (1971)
Life History: Specific details for this species are not well documented.
In general the protonema, spore germination and development is typical
of all mosses. According to Schofield (1976) and Smith (2004)
sporophytes are common in the spring and summer.
1
Range, Distribution, and Abundance: Plagiopus oderianus is known
from Europe, the Caucasus, Asia, Japan China, Greenland, Hawaii, and
eastern North America. In the Pacific Northwestern North America it is
known from Alaska, Canadian Arctic, Washington, Oregon, and
Colorado.
Oregon Natural Heritage Information Center reports it from Multnomah
County in the west Cascades Ecoregion.
BLM: Suspected on Burns and Eugene Districts
USFS: Documented on the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic
Area, Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forests, suspected on
the Mt. Hood and Willamette National Forests
Other: Documented on the Olympic National Park
Habitat Associations: Plagiopus oderianus occurs on shaded, humid
calcareous cliffs and rocks in crevices and vertical faces. Lawton (1971)
comments that it occurs from the lowlands to 5700 ft. In British
Columbia it is found from sea-level to subalpine elevations. Habitat
information from material collected in Oregon and Washington is as
follows: on bluff, limestone; on wet face of lava bluff; and on wet rocks.
Threats: Rock quarrying, trail or road construction in areas with
known populations could pose a threat. Logging or changes in hydrology
near known populations may alter the shading and humid which could
be a threat.
Conservation Considerations: All known localities could be revisited to
determine the extent of the population and characterize the microhabitat.
Additional surveys in areas with humid or moist calcareous deposits are
suggested to determine the range of this species.
Conservation Rankings and Status:
Global: G5?, Oregon (S1), Washington (S2)
Oregon: ORNHIC List 3
BLM/USFS Strategic Species in Oregon
Preparer: Judith A. Harpel Ph.D.
Date Completed: November 2008
Edited by: Rob Huff, March 2009
Revised by Candace Fallon, February 2011
(Revision only adds Attachment 1, Photos)
2
ATTACHMENTS:
(1)
Photos
References:
Crum, H. & L. Anderson. 1981. Mosses of Eastern North America. 2
volumes. Columbia University Press, New York. 1328 pp.
Ireland, R. 1982. Moss Flora of the Maritime Provinces. National
Museum of Natural Sciences. National Museum of Natural
Sciences. Publications in Botany, No. 13. Ottawa. Canada. 738 pp.
Lawton. E. 1971. Moss Flora of the Pacific Northwest. The Hattori
Botanical Laboratory. Nichinan, Miyazaki, Japan. 362 pp.
NatureServe Explorer. 2008. An Online Encyclopedia of Life.
http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/
Schofield, W.B. 1976. Bryophytes of British Columbia III: habitat and
distributional information for selected mosses. Syesis 9: 317 –
354.
Smith, A. J. 2004. The Moss Flora of Britain and Ireland. 2nd edition.
Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, England. 1012 pp.
3
Attachment 1 – Photos
All photos by J. Harpel, under contract with the Oregon/Washington Bureau of Land
Management.
Alar and basal cells
Dry capsule
Upper medial cells
Young capsule
4
Leaf
Leaf apex
Leaf cross section
5
Stem cross section
Whole sporophyte
Whole mount
6