Marsupella boeckii
| Common Name | Boeck's Rustwort |
| Quick & Dirty ID | XXXXXX |
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Distinguishing Features
A thread-like alpine plant that grows in tiny, loose and horizontal mats over rock ledges and bases, M. boeckii has pale green to reddish brown leafy shoots roughly .5 mm wide and up to 1 or 2 cm long. Up close, the leaves are distantly spaced, symmetrically bilobed, the lobe tips variably sharp or blunt and divided by a V-shaped sinus that descends about 1/4-to-1/3 of the leaf’s length. These plants are “dioicous”, so fertile shoots bearing antheridia are on seperate plants than those that bear archegonia and developing sporophytes. Fertile plants are frequent and show leaves increasing in size towards the shoot tips.
Similar species
The tiny thread-like shoots could be mistaken for Cephaloziella species. Confident distinction of M. boeckii requires examination of fresh leaves under the microscope to see the oil bodies. In M. boeckii, the oil bodies are large and few, while in Cephaloziella species, they are numerous and small. Within the genus Marsupella, only M. stableri has distant leaves on tiny shoots as in M. boeckii. The two can be found in the same habitat, but leaves on the former are tightly pressed against the stem, while in the latter they are free from the stem.
Habitat
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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.