SPECIES FACT SHEET
Common Name: Bolander's scalemoss
Scientific Name: Porella bolanderi (Aust.) Pears.
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: Porellaceae
Technical Description: Plants leafy, dark green, grayish-green to olive
brown below, dull, prostrate with tips often ascending, 2-4 mm wide and
1.5-6 (10) cm long, simple or sparsely pinnately branched. Leaves in two
rows, densely imbricate, sloping toward the base of the shoots
(incubous), junctions of cell walls (trigones) hardly enlarged. Leaves
bilobed, the dorsal lobes larger and folded over the ventral lobes; dorsal
lobes 1.5-2.5 mm long and 0.6-1.8 mm wide, broadly ovate, rounded or
pointed at apex, spreading laterally, the margins toothed or ciliate at
base and recurved or sometimes undulate; ventral lobes narrow, ovatelanceolate to linear-lanceolate, acute, long-decurrent, angled somewhat
away from the stem, the margins recurved, undulate and with one or
more teeth at the base. Underleaves ovate, usually overlapping, usually
dentate at least at base, long-decurrent, apices acute, slightly wider than
the stem and about twice as wide as ventral leaf lobes, margins strongly
recurved. Gemmae unknown. Perianths broadly ovoid, longitudinally
furrowed (plicate), with mouth cilate. Fresh plants have an aromatic but
not peppery taste. Distinctive characters: (1) ventral leaf lobes longdecurrent, (2) underleaves usually overlapping, acute, long-decurrent (3)
perianth plicate with mouth ciliate, (4) leaf cells with a negative (no
change) color reaction to iodine-potassium iodide (IKI) reagent or
germicidal tablet solution (Piipo and Norris 1996; D. Wagner 2004; Doyle
and Stotler 2006), and (5) lacking a peppery taste when fresh. Similar
species: Porella cordaeana has (1) ventral leaf lobes long-decurrent, (2)
underleaves usually not overlapping, rounded, long-decurrent, (3) the
perianth smooth, with a narrow mouth lacking cilia, and (4) a positive
(bluish, purplish, or brownish) color reaction to IKI or germicidal tablet
solution, and (5) lacks a peppery taste when fresh. Porella roellii has (1)
ventral leaf lobes not or short-decurrent, usually narrower than the
underleaves, (2) underleaves usually overlapping, blunt, (3) the perianth
smooth with a wide ciliate mouth, (4) a negative reaction to IKI or
germicidal tablet solution, and (5) a hot peppery taste when fresh. Other
descriptions and illustrations: Frye and Clark 1946: 729; Flowers
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1961: 82; Hong 1983: 145; Piippo and Norris 1996: 138; D. Wagner
2004a; Doyle & Stotler 2006: 175; C. Wagner 2006.
Life History: Details for Porella bolanderi 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 late winter to early summer, depending on elevation.
Range, Distribution, and Abundance: Endemic to western North
America and known only from California, Oregon, and Utah. According to
David Wagner (2004b, 2006), all reports of Porella bolanderi from
Washington (Frye and Clark 1946; Hong 1980) are errors based on
misidentifications. Reports for western Oregon in Sanborn (1929) are
also probably errors and should be ignored. Porella bolanderi is
widespread in California and its habitat preferences are reasonably well
known (Piippo and Norris 1996). It is poorly known at the northern edge
of its range in Oregon but its habitat appears to be similar to those in
California. Its close resemblance to other species of Porella suggests that
it has been overlooked in the field and may be more abundant than
current records indicate.
National Forests: documented on the Rogue River-Siskiyou forest;
suspected on the Umpqua forest. BLM Districts: documented from the
Eugene, Medford, and Roseburg Districts; suspected on the Coos Bay
districts.
Rare, but probably undercollected.
Habitat Associations: Forming shaded to partly exposed mats on a
variety of rock types (siliceous, calcareous, and metamorphic) and trunks
of Quercus, Umbellularia, and Acer macrophyllum (Piippo and Norris
1996). In the Pacific Northwest, known elevations range from 500-3000
feet. Primary forest types are dry Quercus garryana, Pinus ponderosa,
and Pseudotsuga menziesii associations. Habitats in California and
Oregon suggest that Porella bolanderi occurs in typical winter wetsummer dry Mediterranean climate. The disjunct populations in lowerelevation canyons of Utah's Wasatch Mountains occur in a more
continental climate, but Pseudotsuga menziesii and Pinus ponderosa
associations are probably the primary forest types there also.
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Threats: Threats include housing and commercial development, logging,
road and trail construction, and fire. Many occurrences are on private
land subject to development.
Conservation Considerations:. Relocate known sites and survey for new
sites in order to reassess its conservation ranking.
Conservation rankings: Global: G3; National: N2N3. Oregon: S1, List 2;
California: SNR; Utah SNR. Not known from Washington.
Preparer: John A. Christy
Date Completed: June 2006. Revised May 2007 with edits from Rob Huff, Russ
Holmes, and Daphne Stone.
Revised by: Rob Huff, February 2009
(Revision only clarified range in Oregon to include Eugene BLM)
Updated in May 2009 by Candace Fallon (Update added Attachment 1, Photos, to
the Species Fact Sheet).
Revised by: David Wagner, May 2010
(Corrected Scientific name, clarified citations in text)
Revised by: Rob Huff, April 2011
(updated documented information for Roseburg BLM and Rogue River-Siskiyou
NF)
ATTACHMENTS:
(1)
Photos
References
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.
Flowers, S. 1961. The Hepaticae of Utah. University of Utah Biological
Series 12 (2): 1-89 + figs.
Frye, T.C. & L. Clark. 1946. Hepaticae of North America. Volume 4.
University of Washington Publications in Biology 6: 565-733.
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Hong, W.S. 1980. Hepaticae of the North Cascades Range, Washington.
Bryologist 83: 94-102.
_______. 1983. The genus Porella in North America west of the Hundredth
Meridian. Bryologist 86: 143-155.
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
Piippo, S. & D.H. Norris. 1996. A revision of Californian Porella
(Hepaticae). Annales Botanici Fennici 33: 137-152.
http://www.sekj.org/PDF/anbf33/anbf33-137.pdfsearch=%22%22Porella%20bolanderi%22%22
Sanborn, E.I. 1929. Hepaticae and Anthocerotes of western Oregon.
University of Oregon Publications, Plant Biology Series 1: 1-111.
Stotler, R.E. and B. Crandall-Stotler. 2008. Correct author citations for
some upper rank names of liverworts (Marchantiophyta). Taxon 57:
289-292.
Wagner, C. 2006. Porella bolanderi. CalPhotos.
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/
Wagner, D.H. 2004a. Liverworts of Oregon. Draft version on compact
disc. Northwest Botanical Institute, Eugene, Oregon.
_______. 2004b and 2006. Personal communications with John Christy.
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Attachment 1 –Photos
All photos by Dr. David Wagner, under contract with the Oregon/Washington Bureau of
Land Management.
Branch, ventral
Young female shoot
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