Tuesday 10 December 2013

A bit more on the genus Hypnum

Digging around last night in the BBS field guide and Watson revealed some interesting info. At the time of Watson 3rd edition H.cupressiforme was kind of an aggregate, with numerous listed varieties. It was apparent from the text that even at that time Smith (at least) had been teasing these out into species level. Some varieties I'm not sure what happened to, whereas others seem to have made it to full species status by the time of the Field Guide - resupinatum and lacunosum jump out. I will get Smith some time and have a fuller picture. This morning I can't see lacunosum in the Field Guide contents. Maybe I have a different edition from the one online or I made some bleary-eyed transcription error in the wee small hours (No! page exists, index entry H.vaucheri - confusing)

There are 12 Hypnum spp. in the Field Guide, and it's a good form to be familiar with in a world where ID is often tricky - "plait-mosses".The "vanilla" cupressiforme is a beautiful plant, but some of the other varieties are really nice too, especially the golden ones. This is the king of them imho: Hypnum Lacunosum

Here's the whole set:
H.andoi - widespread, recorded in Fife
H.bambergeri - montane, not recorded in Fife
H.callichroum - NW distribution, but recorded in Fife
H.cupressiforme - widespread, recorded in Fife (and Cullaloe)
H.hamulosum - NW dist, upland species
H.imponens - habitat peaty bogs, not recorded in Fife
H.jutlandicum- widespread, recorded in Fife
H.lindbergii - AKA Calliergonella lindbergii, wide dist, recorded in Fife (and Cullaloe)
H.resupinatum - widespread, recorded in Fife
H.revolutum - montane species, not recorded in Fife
H.vaucheri - two varieties, widespread, recorded in Fife

From the Fife moss list Hypna are listed as following:
Hypnum callichroum
Hypnum cupressiforme var. cupressiforme
Hypnum jutlandicum
Hypnum andoi
Hypnum cupressiforme var. resupinatum
Hypnum cupressiforme var. lacunosum

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