Asterella palmeri

Asterella palmeri
Baja California, Mexico, 2024
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Marchantiophyta
Class: Marchantiopsida
Order: Marchantiales
Family: Aytoniaceae
Genus: Asterella
Species:
A. palmeri
Binomial name
Asterella palmeri
(Austin) Underw.
Synonyms

Fimbriaria palmeri (Austin, 1875)[1]
Fimbriaria nudata (Howe, 1893)[1]
Asterella nudata (Underw., 1895)[1]
Asterella palmeri (Underw., 1895)[1]

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.[2][3] 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,[2] as well as in the northwestern corner of U.S. state of New Mexico.[4][5][3] 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."[6] 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.[6]

The holotype was collected by Dr. Edward Palmer on Guadalupe Island off the Pacific coast of Mexico in 1875.[7][8]: 121  The range of A. palmeri overlaps somewhat with the range of Asterella californica.[3] A. palmeri is morphologically most similar to A. saccata, A. muscicola and the East Asian species A. grollei.[9]: 174 

Asterella palmeri closeup
  1. ^ a b c d Evans, Alexander W. (1920). "The North American Species of Asterella". Contributions from the United States National Herbarium. 20 (8): I–VIII. JSTOR 23492237.
  2. ^ a b "Palmer's asterella (Asterella palmeri)". iNaturalist. Retrieved 2024-03-05.
  3. ^ a b c 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.
  4. ^ "NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 2024-03-05.
  5. ^ "Liverworts of New Mexico: A Preliminary List" (PDF).
  6. ^ a b 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.
  7. ^ Howe, Marshall A. (1899). The Hepaticae and Anthocerotes of California. Columbia University. pp. 54–55.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ 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.