Gymnomitrion brevissimum
| Common Name | Snow Rustwort |
| Frequency | Infrequent |
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Distinguishing Features
A miniscule red alpine plant that present as a flattened turf of dark red to purple wormy shoots about half of a millimeter wide, G. brevissimum requires a hand lens to make out any detail beyond colour. The leaves under a micrscope should show blunt to rounded apices and a rounded sinus, as well as plane margins. Plants are “paroicous”, having antheridia and archegonia in seperate regions along the same shoots. The leaves are somewhat free from the stem, but they overlap closely with one another, giving the shoots the aforementioned wormy appearance.
Similar species
Red-hued species of Gymnomitrion are most likely to be mistaken for Marsupella. There are no cut and dried vegetative characters to distinguish between these two genera and reproductive structures used to traditionally seperate them are rarely present. Red species Gymnomitrion should be checked against small red species of Marsupella. See table for comparison to other regional species of Gymnomitrion.
Habitat
Dry to moist mineral soil, cliffs, rock outcrops, ledges, crevices, boulders, streambanks, snowbed sites, and tundra in the upper montane, subalpine and alpine zones
Associated species
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Distribution Map
Relevant Literature
- Godfrey, J.D. (1977). Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of southwestern British Columbia . [Doctoral dissertation, University of British Columbia]. UBC cIRcle.
- Hong, W. S. (2007). Scapania. In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (Eds.), Flora of North America North of Mexico (Vol. 3) . Oxford University Press.
- Wagner, D. H. (2013). Guide to the liverworts of Oregon: Scapania undulata . Oregon State University Herbarium.