MaltaWildplants.com FORUM

I would love to go botanising in Sicily one day. If you visit any streams please keep a lookout for streamside mosses which are the ones which fascinate me the most. In particular :- 1) Barbula bolleana (recorded once as Trichostomum ehrenbergii from Mtahleb pre 1907) http://bdb.cma.gva.es/ficha.asp ...

If as you describe; your plant 1) does not twist when dry 2) has a thick yellowish border It has to be Bryum donianum according to my keys. Yes bryophytes are interesting and can occasionally offer a nice surprise in new discoveries. I had 2 new species for Malta confirmed this week by my Spanish ...

With Bryum I am never too certain. Just this week I found this unusual Bryum; http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/9605/img2693f.jpg I thought it would be easy for an expert to recognise what it is given that it is so different from the usual Bryum species in Malta but I had to send it to him anyway ...

Bryum donianum by Michael Lueth





Bryum caespiticium by Michael Lueth

Great, I agree with you. It is difficult to tell all these species apart and in fact the name has now changed as follows: Fissidens viridulus (Sw. ex anon.) Wahlenb. var. incurvus (Starke ex Röhl.) Waldh. It is one of the easier mosses to identify when it has sporophytes due to the way the capsules ...

1) The habitat is not a usual place to find B. caespiticium. I have always found in exposed sunny locations. 2) The size of the leaves are also larger than in B. caespiticium. The habit is also very different (I shall place a photo here) 3) The shape of the leaves is not the same as in B ...

Its a Bryum for sure. The capsule however looks more like that of Bryum donianum. Its difficult to see with the photographs but the plants seem larger than the B. caespiticium I am familiar with. The one found in garigue is much more compact. Perhaps the sporophyte has not matured. Can you please ...

This is a photo of T. barbuloides in Wied Babu.



One of the largest acrocarps in Malta.

I think the key you are using misled you. I'll try to clear it up; 1) The family Pottiaceae (which by the way constitute over 50% of the mosses in Malta) has both unistratose and multistratose leaved species. 2) Timmiella barbuloides is in the Pottiaceae not Timmiaceae (we don't have any of the ...

Don't worry about mistakes - I've been studying mosses since 1999 and still need help or confirmation with many of them! Please note that Tortula muralis has a single layer of cells in its lamina (leaf minus nerve). What you are seeing in the distal part (the half near the tip) are cells with ...

Glad to see someone else getting interested in mosses. Your plant is definitely Tortula muralis. The leaf shape, recurved edges and long hyaline costa are very characteristic. There is a variety of T . muralis called aestiva with a shorter costa but is not as common. Timmiella is a much larger plant ...

I can't say for sure that the plant is not producing gametophytes and sprorophytes in the pool in nature. The water is frequently too murky to see the bottom at even a few cm. However given the length of time that the plant requires to develop in vitro, it highly unlikely that the full cycle is ...

1 to 2 cm. Cultivated from spores from the same location. The adult gametophyte is not evident in the pool but the spores are present so there must either be a resident spore count or else the plant is reproducing in a way which is not easily evident. Riella have been known to spend decades as ...

One of the rarest plants in Malta:

Riella helicophylla

Although moss 3 (also next to moss 2) could be a Bryum, (a microscopical photo of the leaf sells would confirm), I would bet that its a member of the Funariaceae...an Entosthodon sp. or Funaria hygrometrica. They love high nutrients, grow with potted plants and look exactly like that. Without a ...

The new photos show that the leaves are linear and the cell shape indicates Pottiaceae. Although Didymodon rigidulus was recorded once from Wied Incita, and although the shape and habit is similar to your photos, the probable identity is Eucladium verticillatum. I have recorded this from Dwejra ...

I have looked again at your first photo and noted that some of the lobes are restricted towards the bottom which is a feature of Leiocolea. The area appears very wet. High moisture frequently leads to changes in the appearance of bryophytes. But to make certain it would be best to consult with an ...

Stephen If you were not looking for a particular new liverwort the likelihood is that you found Leiocolea. The moss in the picture looks like a Didymodon. I would be interested in any new records of mosses for a revised checklist I am compiling at present. The identifications need to be certain and ...

I am doing a project on the Maltese mosses. I'm not an expert on liverworts although I am familiar with the more common species in Malta. Are you sure that what you have found is not Leiocolea turbinata, which is quite common? I believe Cephalozia are usually found on acidic/peaty habitats. Check ...

Nice picture!

The centre lettuce like plant with black capsules is Fossobronia, a common liverwort

The star shaped moss on the bottom right with a pendulous capsule is a moss species of Bryum.

You can guess the fern's name.

best regards

I use mainly AJE Smith's Moss flora of the British isles as most of our moss flora is covered there. But for the beginner I suggest the online field guide of the BBS at http://hosting.sleath.co.uk/bbs/mosses_am.php I believe that http://books.google.com/books?id=Z3C4MgfXRa4C&printsec=frontcover#PPP1 ...

Sorry I do not post often but moss is one of my strange pet hobbies. Being so small and difficult to id they are not usually appreciated much, but that makes the challenge even more worthwhile. Around 100 species of moss and 20 liverworts have been recorded here but more can be found surely. Some ...

Actually looking again at Photo 1 I am practically convinced its Scorpiurium circinatum. The way the branches arch downwards when they start to dry out is characteristic of this species.

This post is a little late but I hope is helpful. Photo 1 may be Brachytechium rutabulum but it is more probably Scorpiurium circinatum which is the most common Maltese pleurocarpous moss and which I know is common in the Wied Qirda Maquis. The photo is not enough to distinguish with absolute ...

Thanks for the info. Great photos as usual.

I don't think its a rock pool specialist though. A similar looking plant I often find in this habitat and sometimes partly in the water is Juncus bufonius, the toad rush.


best regards
Stephan

Dispersion of seeds is by wind I believe. What I find interesting is that submerged pollination is employed by marine sea grasses which are to deep to have aerial pollination. Why does this happen also in shallow rock pools? Most aquatic plants still employ areila pollination. I think it may have ...

Re: Callitriche truncata Its the only Callitriche to be found in Malta that has transparent submerged leaves, no terrestrial leaves and is normally restricted to rock pools in coralline garigue. There are said to be four or five more Callitriche spp. in Malta. Its said to be frequent but considering ...

I've also seen a large meadow of Chara sp in the running water of one of the pools in the valley below Targa gap and at mtahleb valley.

I'm not sure if its the same species.

regards

Very interesting find in a rockpool. It does look like P aviculare, but I think you need open flowers for proper identification. Its not a specific rockpool species but its not really growing submerged, it has lost all the leaves underwater so its not really aquatic. Many species can be found in wet ...

Yes its a Chara species, one of the few good looking algae. It sometimes becomes whitish because it deposits minerals on the outside hence the name stonewort.

You also have Callitriche truncata in the background.

Can you tell me where you found the pool?

thanks

regards
Stephan