Wardia

Wardia
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Bryophyta
Class: Bryopsida
Subclass: Dicranidae
Order: Dicranales
Family: Dicranaceae
Genus: Wardia
Harv. & Hook.
Species:
W. hygrometrica
Binomial name
Wardia hygrometrica
Synonyms[2]

Wardia is a monotypic genus of mosses in the subclass Dicranidae; it contains only the species Wardia hygrometrica, "an aquatic moss endemic to the Western Cape province of South Africa."[3] It is the only endemic moss family in South Africa.[4] As it is an aquatic moss, it was first classified in the Fontinalaceae (and in the order of Isobryales[5]), but molecular studies have shown that it is more closely related to the Dicranaceae.

The genus name of Wardia is in honour of Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward (1791–1868), who was an English doctor.[6]The specific epithet hygrometrica refers to the hygroscopic nature of the seta (stalk).[4]

The genus was circumscribed by William Henry Harvey and William Jackson Hooker in Companion Bot. Mag. 2 on page 183 in 1837.

  1. ^ Cholo, F. (2010). "Wardia hygrometrica". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T185397A8403041. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-3.RLTS.T185397A8403041.en. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  2. ^ "Wardia hygrometrica Harv. & Hook". WFO Plant List. World Flora Online. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  3. ^ Hedderson, Terry A., Cymon J. Cox, & J. George Gibbins. 1999. Phylogenetic Relationships of the Wardiaceae (Musci); Evidence from 18s rRNA and rps4 Gene Sequences. The Bryologist 102 (1): 26-31.
  4. ^ a b "Wardia hygrometrica | PlantZAfrica". pza.sanbi.org. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  5. ^ "Isobryales". www.gbif.org. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  6. ^ Burkhardt, Lotte (2022). Eine Enzyklopädie zu eponymischen Pflanzennamen [Encyclopedia of eponymic plant names] (pdf) (in German). Berlin: Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin. doi:10.3372/epolist2022. ISBN 978-3-946292-41-8. Retrieved January 27, 2022.