Pseudoditrichum is a rare North American genus of haplolepideous moss (Dicranidae). It is the only known genus in its family (Pseudoditrichaceae), and there is only one species in the genus.[1][2] Pseudoditrichum mirabile has been found only in a small area along the Sloan River near Great Bear Lake. This is in the Northwest Territory in northern Canada, only a few kilometers south of the Arctic Circle.[3]

Pseudoditrichum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Bryophyta
Class: Bryopsida
Subclass: Dicranidae
Order: Pseudoditrichales
Family: Pseudoditrichaceae
Steere & Z.Iwatsuki 1974
Genus: Pseudoditrichum
Steere & Z.Iwatsuki 1974
Species:
P. mirabil
Binomial name
Pseudoditrichum mirabil

Pseudoditrichum mirabile is unusual in that the combination of the gametophyte features and the sporophyte morphology do not match any other moss family. The entire plant is a mere 3 mm tall, growing on moist silt, generally underneath Populus. It spreads vegetatively by means of spherical underground tubers as well as via narrow, thread-like gemmae. Spores are 15-21 μm long, shed one at a time.[3][4]

References

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  1. ^ Goffinet, B.; Buck, W. R.; Shaw, A. J. (2008). "Morphology and Classification of the Bryophyta". In Goffinet, B.; Shaw, J. (eds.). Bryophyte Biology (2nd ed.). New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 55–138. ISBN 978-0-521-87225-6.
  2. ^ Goffinet, B.; Buck, W.R. "Classification of extant moss genera". Classification of the Bryophyta. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  3. ^ a b Flora of North America, Pseudoditrichum mirabile Steere & Z. Iwatsuki, 1974.
  4. ^ William Campbell Steere, Zennoske Iwatsuki 1974. Pseudoditrichum mirabile gen. et sp. nov. (Musci: Pseudoditrichaceae fam. nov.), a unique moss from Great Bear Lake, Northwest Territories. Canadian Journal of Botany, 1974, 52(4): 701-705, 10.1139/b74-090