Asterella palmeri

Asterella palmeri
Baja California, Mexico, 2024
Vulnerable
Vulnerable (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Embryophytes
Division: Marchantiophyta
Class: Marchantiopsida
Order: Marchantiales
Family: Aytoniaceae
Genus: Asterella
Species:
A. palmeri
Binomial name
Asterella palmeri
(Austin) Underw.
Synonyms
  • Fimbriaria palmeri (Austin, 1875)[2]
  • Fimbriaria nudata (Howe, 1893)[2]
  • Asterella nudata (Underw., 1895)[2]
  • Asterella palmeri (Underw., 1895)[2]

Asterella palmeri, also known as Palmer's asterella, is a species of liverwort native to southwestern North America that can be found growing between roughly 30° and 40° north latitude.[3][4] The plant is found in the U.S. state of California as far north as Redding, and in the Mexican state of Baja California as far south as Punta Baja,[3] as well as in the northwestern corner of U.S. state of New Mexico.[5][6][4] According to California bryologists William T. Doyle and Raymond E. Stotler, Palmer's asterella is typically found around chaparral, conifers, and in oak woodland in "exposed to lightly shaded summer-dry soil; usually on gentle to steep slopes."[7] This liverwort is usually found below 950 metres (3,120 ft) elevation, but in the southern Sierra Nevada can be found at up to 1,250 metres (4,100 ft) above sea level.[7]

The range of A. palmeri overlaps somewhat with the range of Asterella californica.[4] A. palmeri is morphologically most similar to A. saccata, A. muscicola and the East Asian species A. grollei.[8]: 174 

Asterella palmeri closeup

The holotype was collected by Dr. Edward Palmer on Guadalupe Island off the Pacific coast of Mexico.[9][10]: 121  It was first described as Fibriaria palmeri by C. F. Austin in 1875 in the Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club.[11]

References

  1. ↑ NatureServe. "Asterella palmeri". NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia. Retrieved 26 March 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Evans, Alexander W. (1920). "The North American Species of Asterella". Contributions from the United States National Herbarium. 20 (8): I–VIII. JSTOR 23492237.
  3. 1 2 "Palmer's asterella (Asterella palmeri)". iNaturalist. Retrieved 2024-03-05.
  4. 1 2 3 Hong, Won Shic (Winter 1987). "The Distribution of Western North American Hepaticae. Endemic Taxa and Taxa with a North Pacific Arc Distribution". The Bryologist. 90 (4): 344–361. doi:10.2307/3243096. JSTOR 3243096.
  5. ↑ "NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 2024-03-05.
  6. ↑ "Liverworts of New Mexico: A Preliminary List" (PDF).
  7. 1 2 Doyle, William T.; Stotler, Raymond E. (2006). "Contributions Toward a Bryoflora of California Iii. Keys and Annotated Species Catalogue for Liverworts and Hornworts". Madroño. 53 (2): 89–197. doi:10.3120/0024-9637(2006)53[89:CTABOC]2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0024-9637. JSTOR 41425643. S2CID 86109963.
  8. ↑ Long, David G. (Summer 1999). "Studies on the Genus Asterella. IV. Asterella grollei sp. nov., a New Species from Eastern Asia Related to the American A. palmeri". The Bryologist. 102 (2): 169–178. doi:10.2307/3244357. JSTOR 3244357.
  9. ↑ Howe, Marshall A. (1899). The Hepaticae and Anthocerotes of California. Columbia University. pp. 54–55.
  10. ↑ Watson, Sereno (1875). "Botanical Contributions: On the Flora of Guadalupe Island, Lower California; List of a Collection of Plants from Guadalupe Island, Made by Dr. Edward Palmer, with His Notes upon Them; Descriptions of New Species of Plants, Chiefly Californian, with Revisions of Certain Genera". Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 11: 105–148. doi:10.2307/20021459. ISSN 0199-9818. JSTOR 20021459.
  11. ↑ Austin, C. F. (1875). "New Hepaticæ". Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 6. New York: Torrey Botanical Club: 47.