Schistidium antarctici
Schistidium antarctici is a species of moss found in Antarctica and subantarctic islands.[1] It lives in compact clumps that are yellowish green at the top and brownish black at the bottom. It grows on both soil and rocks.
| Schistidium antarctici | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Division: | Bryophyta |
| Class: | Bryopsida |
| Subclass: | Dicranidae |
| Order: | Grimmiales |
| Family: | Grimmiaceae |
| Genus: | Schistidium |
| Species: | S. antarctici |
| Binomial name | |
| Schistidium antarctici (Card.) L. Savic. & Smirn | |
In the Windmill Islands area of Wilkes Land, Schistidium antarctici is the most common bryophyte. If its habitat supplies ample moisture, it may form a "carpet-like" growth, but if its habitat is dry, it forms a short "cushion-like" growth.[2] It fruits abundantly on Signy Island and elsewhere in Northern maritime Antarctica.[3]
Each capsule of the moss produces between 250,000 and 520,000 spores, each 9.3 μm in diameter and with a volume of 143 μm3.[3]
References
- "Taxon Profile: Schistidium antarctici". Australian Antarctic Data Centre. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
- Kappen, L.; R. I. Lewis Smith; M. Meyer (July 1989). "Carbon dioxide exchange of two ecodemes of Schistidium antarctici in Continental Antarctica". Polar Biology. Springer Berlin / Heidelberg. 9 (7): 415–422. doi:10.1007/BF00443227.
- Investment in Sexual Reproduction by Antarctic Mosses P. Convey and R. I. Lewis Smith Oikos, Vol. 68, No. 2 (Nov., 1993), pp. 293-302]
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