Palustriella commutata
| Palustriella commutata | ||||||||||||
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Palustriella commutata |
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| Palustriella commutata | ||||||||||||
| ( Hedw. ) Ochyra |
Palustriella commutata , better known by its old name Cratoneuron commutatum, is a pleurocarpes of deciduous moss that occurs mainly in wet, calcareous locations. It accumulates lime and can thus lead to the formation of tufa .
description
They are mostly more or less regularly pinnate mosses that can grow hanging, creeping or ascending. The plants can reach lengths of up to 10 centimeters, but in many locations only the last centimeters are green, while the lower part is already completely covered by lime.
The stems are densely covered with paraphyllia , which have the shape of single-celled threads. Most of them are heavily encrusted with lime. The older the plants get, the more lime has usually deposited.
The longitudinally folded leaves have a broad base that more or less suddenly changes into a long tip in the upper part of the leaf. The leaves are usually clearly curved on one side . The leaf margin is usually serrated. The leaf vein extends into the leaf tip. The cells of the leaf blade are prosenchymatous and about 6 to 10 times as long as they are wide. These characteristics can be very different in the very variable species.
Distribution and location requirements
The species occurs in the temperate parts of the northern hemisphere ( Eurasia , North America , North Africa). However, the varieties on these three continents are sometimes viewed as separate species.
The moss can always be found in wet limestone-rich locations, especially at springs and waterfalls in limestone areas or in limestone swamps. In such locations it can form mass vegetation.
The kind as a calcareous tuff former
Lime can be deposited between the leaflets and the paraphyllia of the moss. This happens because the moss removes carbon dioxide from the water . This reduces the solubility of calcium carbonate , which then precipitates and attaches to the plant. In this way, solid tufa is created in the lower area of the moss cushion , while the plants in the upper part continue to grow. Several centimeters of lime can be deposited every year.
As a result, waterfalls with Palustriella commutata typically grow forward and form overhangs, or upwards, which can create dam-like barriers.
Sources and further information
literature
- Jan-Peter Frahm , Wolfgang Frey : Moosflora (= UTB . 1250). Ulmer, Stuttgart 1983, ISBN 3-8001-2463-7 .
- Wolfgang Frey, Jan-Peter Frahm, Eberhard Fischer, Wolfram Lobin : The moss and fern plants of Europe (= small cryptogam flora. Vol. 4). Gustav Fischer, Stuttgart et al. 1995, ISBN 3-437-30756-8 .
