Andreaea rupestris

Andreaea rupestris is in the genus Andreaea, which has around 100 different species.

It may be difficult to differentiate A. rupestris from some other species in its genus as it does bear some similar characteristics to other species. Some species which may be mistaken for A. rupestris are:

• A. rothii, which has a similar habitat to A. rupestris but its leaves are nerved, and they are falcate-secund in both moist and dry conditions (A. rupestris is only falcate-secund in moist conditions).
• A. mutabilis, which has a similar appearance but has a yellow leaf bases, which are more widely spread apart.
• A. alpestris and A. sinuosa, which can only be differentiated from A. rupestris using a microscope.
• A. megistospora, which has a similar habitat to A. rupestris and can only be differentiated by the size of its spores, and its nerved leaves.

The appearance of Andreaea rupestris is dark in colour, varying from dark red/brown/green to black depending on its life stage.{{Cite web|url=https://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/bbs/Activities/mosses/Andreaea%20rupestris.pdf|title=Andreaea rupestris|last=|first=|date=|website=|publisher=Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh|page=312|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161109224645/http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/bbs/Activities/mosses/Andreaea%20rupestris.pdf |archive-date=2016-11-09 |access-date=2020-04-07}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=200000844|title=Andreaea rupestris in Flora of North America @ efloras.org|website=www.efloras.org|access-date=2020-04-07}} It grows in patches of dense, cushion-like tufts up to 2–3 cm high and has imbricate leaves in dry conditions.{{Cite web|url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=4&taxon_id=200000844|title=Andreaea rupestris in Moss Flora of China @ efloras.org|website=www.efloras.org|access-date=2020-04-07}} In moist conditions, the leaves may be falcate-secund (curved to one side) yet this does not always hold true. Unlike some other mosses, A. rupestris have biseriate rhizoids which aid in attaching the gametophyte to substrate.{{Cite journal|last=Redhead|first=Scott A.|date=1973|title=Observations on the Rhizoids of Andreaea|journal=The Bryologist|volume=76|issue=1|pages=185–187|doi=10.2307/3241241|jstor=3241241}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/science/rhizoid|title=Rhizoid {{!}} biology|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2020-04-08}}

File:Andreaea rupestris (b, 150028-481738) 3744.JPG

The gametophyte leaves have an ovate base tapering to a blunt to acute apex{{Cite journal|last=Vitt|first=Dale H.|date=2012-02-20|title=A comparative study of Andreaea acutifolia , A. mutabilis , and A. rupestris|journal=New Zealand Journal of Botany|language=en|volume=18|issue=3|pages=367–377|doi=10.1080/0028825X.1980.10427254|issn=0028-825X}} and are less than 1mm in length. They lack a costa and may have papillae on the dorsal side, particularly on the upper leaves of the stem. The leaves are bordered by shorter, rhombic marginal cells and their laminal cells have thickened cell walls. Their perichaetial leaves are typically larger than their stem leaves.{{Cite book|last=Smith, A. J. E. (Anthony John Edwin), 1935-|title=The moss flora of Britain and Ireland|date=2004|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-511-54185-8|edition=2nd|location=Cambridge, UK|oclc=813418719}} In contrast to most bryophytes which have a filamentous protonemal stage, Andreaea rupestris have thalloid protonema that give rise to the leafy shoot of the gametophyte.{{Cite web|url=https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/plants/bryophyta/andreaeopsida.html|title=Introduction to the Andreaeopsida|website=ucmp.berkeley.edu|access-date=2020-04-08}}{{Cite journal|last=Nishida|first=Yuko|date=1971|title=Studies on the Formation of the Protonema and the Leafy Shoot in Andreaea rupestris var. fauriei|url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jplantres1887/84/993/84_993_187/_article|journal=Shokubutsugaku Zasshi|language=en|volume=84|issue=993|pages=187–192|doi=10.15281/jplantres1887.84.187|issn=0006-808X|doi-access=free}}

File:Andreaea rupestris (d, 113642-470243) 5927.JPG

As characterized by the Andreaeopsida, Andreaea rupestris have small sporophytes which lack both an operculum and a seta. Instead of a seta, they have a pseudopodium derived from gametophytic tissue attached to the sporangium, extending from the perichaetium attached by a structure called the foot. Once fully mature, the sporangium will open along 4 vertical lines of dehiscence to release the spores inside.{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/plant/bryophyte|title=Bryophyte - Annotated classification|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2020-04-07}} The sporangium is hygroscopic as it will dehisce in dry conditions to release spores from the gaps, and will close back up in moist conditions.{{Cite web|url=https://www.anbg.gov.au/bryophyte/dispersal.html|title=Dispersal - bryophyte|website=www.anbg.gov.au|language=en|access-date=2020-04-08}} The spores are red-brown in colour, usually larger than 20 μm in diameter, and lack elaters.{{Cite web|url=https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=bryo-ecol-subchapters|title=Bryophyte Ecology Volume 1|last=Glime|first=J.M.|date=2017|website=Michigan Tech|format=e-Book|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170608093454/http://digitalcommons.mtu.edu:80/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=bryo-ecol-subchapters |archive-date=2017-06-08 |access-date=2020-04-07}}

Andreaea rupestris are typically found in cooler climates on surfaces or fissures of dry, siliceous, exposed rock such as granite. While they can also grow in neutral to mildly basic conditions, they are usually found on acidic rocks and cliff walls. They can be found from sea level to high elevations, but are more commonly associated with higher altitudes.{{Cite journal|last1=Vitt|first1=Dale H.|last2=Hoe|first2=William J.|date=1980|title=Andreaea in Hawaii|journal=The Bryologist|volume=83|issue=2|pages=212|doi=10.2307/3242135|jstor=3242135}} Compared to other species in their genus, they can withstand a wider variety of moisture levels and are better at surviving in drier conditions. They have been found to grow with other species of their genus such as Andreaea nivalis , A. blyttii, A. rigida, A. crassinervia, A. rothii ssp. rothii, A. rothii ssp. jalcata, A. alpina, and A. obovata.{{Cite journal|last=Heegaard|first=Einar|date=1997|title=Ecology of Andreaea in western Norway|journal=Journal of Bryology|language=en|volume=19|issue=3|pages=527–636|doi=10.1179/jbr.1997.19.3.527|issn=0373-6687}}

They are primarily distributed around the Northern hemisphere in North America, Europe, and Asia. More specifically, they have been confirmed in Canada, the United States, Norway, Britain, Ireland, Kazakhstan,{{Cite book|last=Hradílek, Zbyněk Chlachula, Jiří Nesterova, Svetlana Georgievna|title=New bryophyte records from Kazakhstan|date=2011|oclc=904795139}} Korea,{{Cite journal|last1=Kim|first1=Jung-Hyun|last2=An|first2=Ji-Hong|last3=Lee|first3=Byoung Yoon|last4=Kim|first4=Jin-Seok|date=2019-12-31|title=Bryophyte flora of algific slopes in the Korean Peninsula|url=http://www.ebr.or.kr/journal/article.php?code=69947|journal=Environmental Biology Research|volume=37|issue=4|pages=508–525|doi=10.11626/KJEB.2019.37.4.508|s2cid=212941429 |issn=1226-9999|url-access=subscription}} China, Japan,{{cite journal |last1=Ohmura |first1=Yoshihito |last2=Mayrhofer |first2=Helmut |title=Protothelenella sphinctrinoides (Protothelenellaceae) New to Japan and New Chemical Features for Several Species in the Genus |journal=Herzogia |date=2016 |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=137-142 |doi=10.13158/heia.29.1.2016.137}} Central America, New Zealand, Antarctica and more recently in 2018, Greece.{{Cite journal|last=Blockeel|first=Tom L.|date=2018|title=Mt Tzena, an Important Site for Bryophytes in Greece, with a Remarkably Disjunct Population of the Rich-Fen Moss Cinclidium stygium|journal=Herzogia|language=en|volume=31|issue=1|pages=37–47|doi=10.13158/099.031.0101|s2cid=91483579 |issn=0018-0971}}

The sporophyte and gametophyte represent two generations of A. rupestris, also known as the alternation of heteromorphic generations. The gametophyte stage starts with the haploid spore, which then germinates into a thalloid protonema. The protonema then gives rise to the leafy gametophyte which houses the male and female organs also known as the antheridia and archegonia, respectively.

Andreaea rupestris are autoicous, meaning that their male and female organs exist on separate branches within the same gametophyte. The close proximity of the antheridia and archegonia helps facilitate fertilization. The antheridia contain sperm that travel down the neck of an archegonium, which houses the egg, to fertilize it. When the egg is fertilized and becomes a diploid zygote, it then develops into the diploid sporangium. Note that the sporangium is attached to a haploid pseudopodium that was derived from gametophytic tissue. Through the process of meiosis, haploid spores are produced and released through the gaps of the dehisced sporangium.

According to the BC Conservation Data Centre, this species is deemed "demonstrably widespread, abundant and secure" globally.{{Cite web|url=https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/plants-animals-ecosystems/conservation-data-centre/explore-cdc-data/status-ranks|title=Conservation Status Ranks|last=|first=|date=|website=British Columbia|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170311101223/http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/plants-animals-ecosystems/conservation-data-centre/explore-cdc-data/status-ranks |archive-date=2017-03-11 |access-date=2020-04-07}} In British Columbia, it is labelled as "at the least risk of being lost".{{Cite web|url=http://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/speciesSummary.do?id=18683|title=Species Summary of A. rupestris|last=|first=|date=|website=|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200408031533/http://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/speciesSummary.do%3Fid%3D18683 |archive-date=2020-04-08 |access-date=2020-04-07}}{{Cite web|url=https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/plants-animals-ecosystems/conservation-data-centre/explore-cdc-data/red-blue-yellow-lists|title=Red, Blue & Yellow Lists|last=|first=|date=|website=British Columbia|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170311101225/http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/plants-animals-ecosystems/conservation-data-centre/explore-cdc-data/red-blue-yellow-lists |archive-date=2017-03-11 |access-date=2020-04-07}}

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Category:Andreaeaceae

Category:Lithophytes

Category:Taxa named by Johann Hedwig

Category:Plants described in 1801