Asterella palmeri | |
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Baja California, Mexico, 2024 | |
Scientific classification
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Kingdom: | Plantae |
Division: | Marchantiophyta |
Class: | Marchantiopsida |
Order: | Marchantiales |
Family: | Aytoniaceae |
Genus: | Asterella |
Species: | A. palmeri
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Binomial name | |
Asterella palmeri (Austin) Underw.
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Synonyms | |
Fimbriaria palmeri (Austin, 1875)
[1] |
Asterella palmeri, also known as Palmer's asterella, is a species of liverwort native to southwestern North America that can be found growing between roughly 30° and 40° north latitude. [2] [3] The plant is found in the U.S. state of California as far north as Redding, and in the Mexican state of Baja California as far south as Punta Baja, [2] as well as in the northwestern corner of U.S. state of New Mexico. [4] [5] [3] According to California bryologists William T. Doyle and Raymond E. Stotler, Palmer's asterella is typically found around chaparral, conifers, and in oak woodland in "exposed to lightly shaded summer-dry soil; usually on gentle to steep slopes." [6] This liverwort is usually found below 950 metres (3,120 ft) elevation, but in the southern Sierra Nevada can be found at up to 1,250 metres (4,100 ft) above sea level. [6]
The holotype was collected by Dr. Edward Palmer on Guadalupe Island off the Pacific coast of Mexico in 1875. [7] [8]: 121 The range of A. palmeri overlaps somewhat with the range of Asterella californica. [3] A. palmeri is morphologically most similar to A. saccata, A. muscicola and the East Asian species A. grollei. [9]: 174