SPECIES FACT SHEET
Common Name: Blunt water moss, worm moss, calliergon moss
Scientific Name: Pseudocalliergon trifarium
Recent synonyms: Calliergon trifarium
Division: Bryophyta
Class: Bryopsida
Order: Hypnales
Family: Amblystegiaceae
Technical Description: Plants erect, 4-16 cm tall, brownish-gold,
copper-colored, or blackish, unbranched. Shoots round in cross-section,
about 1-1.5 mm wide. Leaves obtuse, concave and imbricate, giving
plants a blunt, turgid, worm-like appearance. When wet, the leaves
appear to be arranged around the stem in a spiral pattern. Capsules are
unknown in the Pacific Northwest and very rare rangewide. Distinctive
characters: (1) Sparingly branched, upright, turgid shoots with blunt
tips and imbricate concave leaves, (2) medium to rich fen habitat.
Similar species: Calliergon cordifolium grows in similar habitats, but is
(1) green, (2) irregularly pinnately branched, (3) has blunt shoot tips but
larger, more spreading leaves, and (4) it forms sprawling mats that lack
erect shoots. Calliergonella cuspidata also grows in similar habitats and
forms sprawling mats, but is (1) green, (2) irregularly pinnately branched,
with (3) conspicuously pointed shoot and branch tips that look like small
daggers. Other descriptions and illustrations: Grout 1931: 99; Nyholm
1965: 455; Lawton 1971: 272; Smith 1978: 578; Crum and Anderson
1981: 1010; Vitt et al. 1988: 88; Christy and Wagner 1996: VII-19;
Hedenäs and Miller 2000.
Life History: Details for this species are not documented. The
protonema is inconspicuous, forming buds and shoots in the usual
fashion of moss growth and development. Capsules have not been found
in the Pacific Northwest.
Range, Distribution, and Abundance: Circumboreal but rare
throughout much of its range. In the Pacific Northwest, known from
British Columbia, Alberta, Montana and Oregon.
National Forests: documented on the Fremont-Winema NF; suspected on
the Malheur, Umatilla and Wallowa-Whitman forests because of similar
habitat. BLM Districts: Klamath Falls Resource Area of the Lakeview
BLM Distrcit considers this species suspected.
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Rare. Many peatlands in the Pacific Northwest have been investigated
botanically, but Pseudocalliergon trifarium remains rare. It is rare here
because it is at the southern end of its range, but it is more common
north of the Canadian border.
Habitat Associations: Forming lawns or inconspicuously intermixed
with other bryophytes in medium to rich montane fens where it grows
submerged to emergent in pools or on saturated ground, usually in full
sunlight. Fen pools may dry up in late summer. Elevations range from
5000-6000 feet. Forest types include Abies amabilis, Abies concolor,
Abies x shastensis, and Pinus contorta ssp. latifolia associations.
Calliergon trifarium is one of several species of so-called "brown mosses"
that occur in mineral-rich fens. Associated vascular plants in Oregon
and Washington include Eleocharis quinqueflora, Carex limosa,
Scheuchzeria palustris, and Triglochin maritimum. Associated bryophyte
species include Hamatocaulis vernicosus, Tomentypnum nitens, Meesia
triquetra and Helodium blandowii.
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 rare mosses such as Pseudocalliergon.
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: S1, List 2;
Montana: S1; British Columbia S2S3, Blue List.
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Preparer: John A. Christy
Date Completed: June 2006
Revised May 2007 with edits from Rob Huff, Russ Holmes, and Daphne
Stone.
Updated by Camille Duncan in December 2009 (Update added
Attachment 1, Photos, to the Species Fact Sheet). Updated by Rob Huff
in August 2011 (Update added Klamath Falls Resource Area of the
Lakeview BLM District and the Malheur NF as suspected).
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. 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.
Grout, A.J. 1928-1941. Moss Flora of North America North of Mexico. 3
vols. Published by the author. Newfane, Vermont.
Hedenäs, L. & N.G. Miller. 2000. Pseudocalliergon. Version 2. Bryophyte
Flora of North America, Provisional Publication, Missouri Botanical
Garden.
http://www.mobot.org/plantscience/bfna/V2/AmblPseudocalliergon.htm
Lawton, E. 1971. Moss Flora of the Pacific Northwest. Hattori Botanical
Laboratory, Nichinan, Japan. 362 pp.
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Montana Natural Heritage Program. 2003. Plant species of concern.
Natural Resource Information System, Montana State Library.
Nyholm, E. 1954-1969. Illustrated Moss Flora of Fennoscandia. Vol. 2.
Musci. CWK Gleerup, Lund, and Natural Science Research Council,
Stockholm. 799 pp.
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.
Vitt, D.H., J.E. Marsh & R.B. Bovey. 1988. Mosses, Lichens and Ferns of
Northwest North America. Lone Pine Publishing, Redmond,
Washington. 296 pp.
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Attachment 1 – Photos
All photos by Dr. Judy Harpel, under contract with the Oregon/Washington Bureau of
Land Management.
Whole mount
Leaf
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Alar cells
Upper medial cells
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