''Frullania asagrayana'' is a reddish-brown species of

liverwort The Marchantiophyta () are a division of non-vascular land plants commonly referred to as hepatics or liverworts. Like mosses and hornworts, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which cells of the plant carry only a single set of g ...

in the family

Frullaniaceae ''Frullania'' is the only genus of liverworts in family Frullaniaceae. It contains the following species: A *''Frullania aculeata'' Taylor, 1846 *''Frullania acutata'' Caspary, 1887 *''Frullania acutiloba'' Gerola, 1947 *'' Frullania akiyamae ...

that grows in eastern North America.

Taxonomy and naming

''Frullania asagrayana'' was first described in 1842 by

Camille Montagne Jean Pierre François Camille Montagne (15 February 1784 – 5 December 1866) was a French military physician and botanist who specialized in the fields of bryology and mycology. He was born in the commune of Vaudoy in the department of Seine-et- ...

, a French bryologist and mycologist, and named after the American botanist

Asa Gray Asa Gray (November 18, 1810 – January 30, 1888) is considered the most important American botanist of the 19th century. His ''Darwiniana'' was considered an important explanation of how religion and science were not necessarily mutually excl ...

.Crandall-Stotler, Barbara, Raymond E. Stotler, and Patricia Geissler. (1987). A biosystematic study of the subspecies of ''Frullania tamarisci'' (L.). ''The Bryologist'' 90(4): 287–308. It remained a species under that name until 1966, when Japanese bryologist Shinji Hattori combined ''F. asagrayana'' and three other species of ''Frullania'' and made them all subspecies of ''Frullania tamarisci''. These four species looked similar, but lived in different parts of the world. They were ''F. tamarisci'' from Europe, ''F. asagrayana'' from eastern North America, ''F. nisquallensis'' from the northern Pacific coast of North America and Siberia, and ''F. moniliata'' from India and Southeast Asia. ''Frullania asagrayana'' was then called ''Frullania tamarisci'' ssp. ''asagrayana'' until 1987, when an international research team at

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of Tr ...

used a variety of morphological, chemical, and genetic markers to determine that the four subspecies of ''Frullania tamarisci'' were in fact separate species.

Description and ecology

''Frullania asagrayana'' is reddish-brown in colour, and grows closely attached to its substrate.Vitt, D.H., J.E. Marsh, and R.B. Bovey. (1988). ''Mosses, Lichens, and Ferns of Northwest North America''. Edmonton, Alberta: Lone Pine Publishing. It has leaves that are divided into two lobes, with the lower lobe being a smaller, sac-shaped structure attached to the base of the upper lobe by a narrow constriction. This structure can fill with water, and may serve as a mechanism for prolonged water storage.

Symbiosis and ecological associations

The endangered

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.Erioderma pedicellatum ''Erioderma pedicellatum'' is a medium-sized, foliose lichen in the family Pannariaceae, commonly called the boreal felt lichen. It grows on trees in damp boreal forests along the Atlantic coast in Canada, as well as in southcentral Alaska and ...

'', which is a

symbiosis Symbiosis (from Greek , , "living together", from , , "together", and , bíōsis, "living") is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological organisms, be it mutualistic, commensalistic, or parasit ...

between an

ascomycete Ascomycota is a phylum of the kingdom Fungi that, together with the Basidiomycota, forms the subkingdom Dikarya. Its members are commonly known as the sac fungi or ascomycetes. It is the largest phylum of Fungi, with over 64,000 species. The defi ...

fungus A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from th ...

and a

cyanobacterium Cyanobacteria (), also known as Cyanophyta, are a phylum of gram-negative bacteria that obtain energy via photosynthesis. The name ''cyanobacteria'' refers to their color (), which similarly forms the basis of cyanobacteria's common name, blue ...

, seems to only be able to grow in association with ''Frullania asagrayana''.COSEWIC Status Report for ''Erioderma pedicellatum''
/ref> It has been suggested that the water sacs of ''F. asagrayana'' may host the

Scytonema ''Scytonema'' is a genus of photosynthetic cyanobacteria that contains over 100 species. It grows in filaments that form dark mats. Many species are aquatic and are either free-floating or grow attached to a submerged substrate, while others s ...

'', and that the symbiosis between this cyanobacterium and the germinating

fungal A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from th ...

spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, f ...

s of ''Erioderma pedicellatum'' can only begin within these water sacs, where the fungal

hyphae A hypha (; ) is a long, branching, filamentous structure of a fungus, oomycete, or actinobacterium. In most fungi, hyphae are the main mode of vegetative growth, and are collectively called a mycelium. Structure A hypha consists of one or ...

assimilate a cyanobacterium, and needs to develop for 5 to 10 years before it reaches a visible size. ''F. asagrayana'' may also benefit from the nitrogen that is being fixed by the

cyanolichen Cyanolichens are lichens that apart from the basic fungal component ("mycobiont"), contain cyanobacteria, otherwise known as blue-green algae, as the photosynthesizing component ("photobiont"). Overall, about a third of lichen photobionts are cyan ...

growing within it. ''Frullania tamarisci'', a closely related species that is found in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

is often found with

apothecia An ascocarp, or ascoma (), is the fruiting body ( sporocarp) of an ascomycete phylum fungus. It consists of very tightly interwoven hyphae and millions of embedded asci, each of which typically contains four to eight ascospores. Ascocarps are mo ...

of the

fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...

'' Filicupula suboperculata'' growing on it.

Conservation status

''Frullania asagrayana'' has a conservation status of "sensitive" in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada,Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Natural Heritage Information Centr

and it may be essential for the growth of the lichen ''

Erioderma pedicellatum ''Erioderma pedicellatum'' is a medium-sized, foliose lichen in the family Pannariaceae, commonly called the boreal felt lichen. It grows on trees in damp boreal forests along the Atlantic coast in Canada, as well as in southcentral Alaska and ...

'', which is listed as critically endangered species, critically endangered by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

.IUCN Assessment on ''Erioderma pedicellatum''
/ref>

Gallery

File:Erioderma pedicellatum2.JPG, Reddish liverwort ''Frullania asagrayana'' on a tree in

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, with the lichen ''

'' growing on top of it. File:Erioderma pedicellatum3.JPG, Reddish liverwort ''Frullania asagrayana'' on a tree in

, with the lichen ''

'' growing on top of it. File:Erioderma pedicellatum4.JPG, Reddish liverwort ''Frullania asagrayana'' on a tree in

, with the lichen ''

'' growing on top of it.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5506487 Frullaniaceae