Riccia melitensis
| Riccia melitensis | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Riccia melitensis | ||||||||||||
| C. Massal. |
Riccia melitensis is a species of moss fromthe Ricciaceae family . The plant has only been found once in Malta so far.
description
Riccia melitensis is probably dioecious . The pale blue-green or whitish, underneath often black-red thallus is 14 to 18 millimeters long and bifurcated once or twice. The outermost branch is oblong-round and 3 to 4 millimeters in diameter.
The thallus is winged white, an important diagnostic feature. On the top of the ends is a deep groove that flattens backwards. The semicircular ends of the thallus are as wide as they are thick in cross section, further back they widen to twice the width as thickness. The epidermis is made up of four to five translucent layers of cells, the uppermost cells are cone-shaped. The ventral scales extending from the ends of the thallus to the edge of the thallus are also translucent. The almost black, 100 to 120 micrometers measuring spores are narrowly lined, dull papillae and net-like fields, the fields are 8-10 micrometers wide.
distribution
The only find of the species comes from the Wied Xlendi on the island of Gozo , which is part of the Maltese archipelago .
Systematics and botanical history
Riccia melitensis was collected in 1906 by Carlo Pietro Stefano Sommier and first described by Caro Benigno Massalongo in 1913 . The species name melitensis (Latin for Maltese ) refers to the place where it was found.
The species is related to Riccia gougetiana and Riccia cilifera .
proof
- ↑ C. Massalongo: Nuovi rappresentati nella Flora italica del genere Riccia . In: Bullettino della Societá botanica italiana . 1913, pp. 52-53, online .
- ↑ a b c d Karl Müller: The liverworts of Germany, Austria and Switzerland with consideration of the other countries of Europe. In: Dr. L. Rabenhorst's cryptogam flora of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Sixth Volume, Abth. 2, 2nd Edition, 1916, pp. 711-712, online
- ↑ a b Jan-Peter Frahm & Michael Lüth: The Bryophyte Flora of the Maltese Islands , In: Archive for Bryology, Vol. 29, 2008, Online (PDF; 127 kB)