Hypnodendron comosum

Hypnodendron comosum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Bryophyta
Class: Bryopsida
Subclass: Bryidae
Order: Hypnodendrales
Family: Hypnodendraceae
Genus: Hypnodendron
Species:
H. comosum
Binomial name
Hypnodendron comosum
(Labill.) Mitt.
Varieties

Hypnodendron comosum var. comosum
Hypnodendron comosum var. sieberi

Hypnodendron comosum, commonly known as palm moss or palm tree moss, is a ground moss which can be divided into two varieties: Hypnodendron comosum var. comosum and Hypnodendron comosum var. sieberi.[1] Both Hypnodendron varieties most commonly grow in damp locations in the temperate and tropical rainforests of New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania in southern Australia and in New Zealand.[2][1][3]

This "miniature forest" dendroid species is viewed by David Meagher and Bruce Fuhrer in their publication A Field Guide to the Mosses and Allied Plants of Southern Australia as one of the most beautiful and unique species of mosses in the southern region of Australia.[4] While both varieties are extremely similar, they are easily identified by their elevation above other moss and lichen species within their ecosystem. Positioned atop an erect stem, the branches form an umbrella shape, the source of the common name "palm tree moss".[2][5][4]

  1. ^ a b Frey, W.; Dalton, Patrick J. (1996). "Hypnodendron comosum - community in Tasmania". Nova Hedwigia. 62 (1–2): 215–220. ISSN 0029-5035.
  2. ^ a b "Australian Mosses Online". Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  3. ^ Raven, Peter H.; Evert, Ray F.; Eichhorn, Susan E. (2005). Biology of Plants (Seventh ed.). New York: W.H. Freeman. ISBN 0-7167-1007-2.[page needed]
  4. ^ a b Meagher, David; Fuhrer, Bruce (2003). A Field Guide to the Mosses and Allied Plants of Southern Australia. Flora of Australia Supplementary Series. Vol. 20. Melbourne: Australian Biological Resources Study/The Field Naturalists Club of Victoria. ISBN 978-0-642-56828-1.[page needed]
  5. ^ Bell, Neil E.; Newton, Angela E. (January–March 2005). "The Paraphyly of Hypnodendron and the Phylogeny of Related Non-Hypnanaean Pleurocarpous Mosses Inferred from Chloroplast and Mitochondrial Sequence Data". Systematic Botany. 30 (1): 34–51. doi:10.1600/0363644053661896. JSTOR 25064039. S2CID 86280908.