Frullania-tamarisci_ocelli_M6

Description:

Frullania tamarisci (L.) Dumort., syn.: Frullania nervosa Mont., Jungermannia tamarisci L.Family: Frullaniaceae LorchEN: Tamarisk Scalewort; DE: Tamarisken-WassersackmoosSlo.: prava tamarinicaDat.: Feb. 5. 2023Lat.: 46.35935 Long.: 13.70651Code: Bot_1505/2023_DSC02209Habitat: river bank, riparian forest, Picea abies and Salix eleagnos dominant trees, flat terrain; young, alluvial, calcareous deposits; in shade, high ground and air humidity; average precipitations ~ 3.000 mm/year, average temperature 6-8 deg C, elevations 535 m (1.760 feet), Alpine phytogeographical region. Substratum: Fallen, dead (Fig. 1,2,4-6) and standing and alive (Fig. 3) trunk of Salix eleagnos.Place: Lower Trenta valley, between villages Soa and Trenta, right bank of river Soa, slightly downstream from the Otokar farmhouse, Trenta 4, East Julian Alps, Posoje, Slovenia. Comments (pertain to pictures in Flicker album Frullania-tamarisci): Frullania tamarisciis a quite common liverwort. It can be found in very diverse habitats and substrata, but generally they love moisture. Most common substratum are calcareous rocks and boulders but tree trunks and sometimes ground are also included. All Frullania species are from far quite similar. Their color is not a reliable distinguishing trait among them. Most of them can be reddish, brownish, greenish and blackish depending on local conditions, habitat and moistness. In dry state, they look very differently than when moist. Usually, for reliable determination, one needs at least a good magnifier glass if not a dissecting microscope to observe tiny details of their leaves and other parts (or a long mileage regarding these 'mysterious' plants).Frullania tamarisci can be recognized by its shiny appearance (in moist and dry state!), the shape of ventral (side closest to substrate) leaf lobes (they look like small jugs turned upside down, which are longer than wide) and by +/- linear row of special cells called ocelli on most or at least some leaves (see Fig. M5 and M6). Ocelli differ from regular leaf cells by slightly enlarged size, different color and by a single, large and grainy oil drop, replacing two or three smaller ones in the regular cells. In some species of the genus Frullania they are organized in rows.Ref.:(1) Smith A.J.E., The Liverworts of Britain & Ireland, Cambridge University Press (1991), p 253.(2) Paton, J.A., The Liverwort Flora of the British Isles, Brill, Leiden, Boston (2011), p 467.(3) Ian Atherton, (ed.), Mosses and Liverworts of Britain and Ireland - a field guide, British Bryological Society (2010), p 211.(4) www.britishbryologicalsociety.org.uk/learning/species-fin... (accessed 23. 02. 2023).