List of mosses of South Africa

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This listing contains taxa of plants in the division Bryophyta, recorded from South Africa. Mosses, or the taxonomic division Bryophyta, are small, non-vascular flowerless plants that typically form dense green clumps or mats, often in damp or shady locations. The individual plants are usually composed of simple leaves that are generally only one cell thick, attached to a stem that may be branched or unbranched and has only a limited role in conducting water and nutrients. Although some species have conducting tissues, these are generally poorly developed and structurally different from similar tissue found in vascular plants. [1] Mosses do not have seeds and after fertilisation develop sporophytes with unbranched stalks topped with single capsules containing spores. They are typically 0.2–10 cm (0.1–3.9 in) tall, though some species are much larger. Dawsonia, the tallest moss in the world, can grow to 50 cm (20 in) in height.

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Mosses are commonly confused with hornworts, liverworts and lichens. [2] Mosses were formerly grouped with the hornworts and liverworts as "non-vascular" plants in the division "bryophytes", all of them having the haploid gametophyte generation as the dominant phase of the life cycle. This contrasts with the pattern in all vascular plants (seed plants and pteridophytes), where the diploid sporophyte generation is dominant. Lichens may superficially resemble mosses, and sometimes have common names that include the word "moss" (e.g., "reindeer moss" or "Iceland moss"), but they are not related to mosses. [2] : 3  Mosses are now classified on their own as the division Bryophyta. There are approximately 12,000 species. [3]

23,420 species of vascular plant have been recorded in South Africa, making it the sixth most species-rich country in the world and the most species-rich country on the African continent. Of these, 153 species are considered to be threatened. [4] Nine biomes have been described in South Africa: Fynbos, Succulent Karoo, desert, Nama Karoo, grassland, savanna, Albany thickets, the Indian Ocean coastal belt, and forests. [5]

The 2018 South African National Biodiversity Institute's National Biodiversity Assessment plant checklist lists 35,130 taxa in the phyla Anthocerotophyta (hornworts (6)), Anthophyta (flowering plants(33534)), Bryophyta (mosses (685)), Cycadophyta (cycads (42)), Lycopodiophyta (Lycophytes(45)), Marchantiophyta (liverworts (376)), Pinophyta (conifers (33)), and Pteridophyta {cryptograms(408)). [6]

Listing

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Funaria</i> Genus of mosses

Funaria is a genus of approximately 210 species of moss. Funaria hygrometrica is the most common species. Funaria hygrometrica is called “cord moss” because of the twisted seta which is very hygroscopic and untwists when moist. The name is derived from the Latin word “funis”, meaning "a rope". In funaria root like structures called rhizoids are present.

<i>Dicranum</i> Genus of mosses

Dicranum is a genus of mosses, also called wind-blown mosses or fork mosses. These mosses form in densely packed clumps. Stems may fork, but do not branch. In general, upright stems will be single but packed together. Dicranum is distributed globally. In North America these are commonly found in Jack pine or Red pine stands.

<i>Gymnostomum</i> Genus of mosses

Gymnostomum is a genus of bryophyte in family Pottiaceae. It was first described by Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck and Christian Friedrich Hornschuch

<i>Grimmia</i> Genus of moss in the family Grimmiaceae

Grimmia is a genus of mosses (Bryophyta), originally named by Jakob Friedrich Ehrhart in honour of Johann Friedrich Carl Grimm, a physician and botanist from Gotha, Germany.

<i>Barbula</i> Genus of mosses

Barbula is a genus of mosses in the family Pottiaceae.

<i>Cryphaea</i> (plant) Genus of moss

Cryphaea is a genus of mosses, (Bryophyta), containing at least 26 accepted species.

<i>Tortula</i> Genus of mosses in the family Pottiaceae

Tortula is a genus of mosses in the family Pottiaceae.

<i>Campylopus</i> Genus of haplolepideous mosses

Campylopus is a genus of 180 species of haplolepideous mosses (Dicranidae) in the family Leucobryaceae. The name comes from the Greek campylos, meaning curved, and pous, meaning foot, referring to the setae which curve downwards.

<i>Thuidium</i> Genus of mosses

Thuidium is a genus of moss in the family Thuidiaceae. The name comes from the genus Thuja and the Latin suffix -idium, meaning diminutive. This is due to its resemblance to small cedar trees.

<i>Leucobryum</i> Genus of haplolepideous mosses

Leucobryum is a genus of haplolepideous mosses (Dicranidae) in the family Leucobryaceae. The name comes from the Greek leukos, meaning white, and bryon, meaning moss.

<i>Syntrichia</i> Genus of mosses

Syntrichia is a large, cosmopolitan genus of mosses in the family Pottiaceae. The genus name is of Greek origin for "plus" and "hair", referring to the "twisted peristome united by a basal membrane".

<i>Didymodon</i> Genus of mosses

Didymodon is a genus of mosses belonging to the family Pottiaceae. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution.

<i>Neckera</i> Genus of mosses

Neckera is a large genus of mosses belonging to the family Neckeraceae. The genus was first described by Johann Hedwig. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution.

<i>Rhynchostegium</i> Genus of mosses

Rhynchostegium is a genus of pleurocarpous mosses belonging to the family Brachytheciaceae. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution across different climatological regions except the polar regions, mostly in tropic to north temperate regions. The genus contains both aquatic and terrestrial species. The genus was named for their rostrate opercula. The type species of this genus is Rhynchostegium confertum (Dicks.) Schimp.

<i>Isothecium</i> Genus of mosses

Isothecium is a genus of mosses belonging to the family Lembophyllaceae. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution.

Vesicularia is a genus of mosses belonging to the family Hypnaceae.

<i>Trichostomum</i> Genus of mosses

Trichostomum is a genus of mosses belonging to the family Pottiaceae.

<i>Rhodobryum</i> Genus of mosses

Rhodobryum is a genus of mosses belonging to the family Bryaceae.

Pylaisia is a genus of mosses belonging to the family Pylaisiaceae.

Platygyrium is a genus of mosses belonging to the family Hypnaceae.

References

  1. ↑ Ligrone, R.; Duckett, J.G.; Renzaglia, K.S. (2000). "Conducting tissues and phyletic relationships of bryophytes". Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 355 (1398): 795–813. doi:10.1098/rstb.2000.0616. PMC   1692789 . PMID   10905610.
  2. 1 2 Lichens of North America, Irwin M. Brodo, Ms. Sylvia Duran Sharnoff, ISBN   978-0300082494, 2001
  3. ↑ Goffinet, Bernard; Buck, William R. (2004). Systematics of the Bryophyta (Mosses): From molecules to a revised classification. pp. 205–239. ISBN   978-1-930723-38-2.{{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  4. ↑ Butler, Rhett A. (1 July 2019). "Total number of plant species by country". Mongabay. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  5. ↑ "Vegetation of South Africa". PlantZAfrica.com. SA National Biodiversity Institute. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 499 500 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 511 512 513 514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525 526 527 528 529 530 531 532 533 534 535 536 537 538 539 540 541 542 543 544 545 546 547 548 549 550 551 552 553 554 555 556 557 558 559 560 561 562 563 564 565 566 567 568 569 570 571 572 573 574 575 576 577 578 579 580 581 582 583 584 585 586 587 588 589 590 591 592 593 594 595 596 597 598 599 600 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 610 611 612 613 614 615 616 617 618 619 620 621 622 623 624 625 626 627 628 629 630 631 632 633 634 635 636 637 638 639 640 641 642 643 644 645 646 647 648 649 650 651 652 653 654 655 656 657 658 659 660 661 662 663 664 665 666 667 668 669 670 671 672 673 674 675 676 677 678 679 680 681 682 683 684 685 686 "species_checklist_20180710.csv". South African National Biodiversity Institute. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
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