''Ambuchanania leucobryoides'' is the only species in the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

genus ''Ambuchanania''. It is a ''

Sphagnum ''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store water, since ...

''-like

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...

endemic to

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

. Originally described as a species of ''Sphagnum'', it is now a separate genus named after the original collector Alex M. Buchanan, (b.1944) an Australian botanist from the

Tasmanian Herbarium The Tasmanian Herbarium is a herbarium in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. Its Index Herbariorum code is HO. It is a part of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. The earliest plant samples in the herbarium's collection date from early European explor ...

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

, (it was first collected in 1987). ''A. leucobryoides'' differs from the family

Sphagnaceae The Sphagnaceae is a family of moss with only one living genus ''Sphagnum ''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also so ...

in having elongate

antheridia An antheridium is a haploid structure or organ producing and containing male gametes (called ''antherozoids'' or sperm). The plural form is antheridia, and a structure containing one or more antheridia is called an androecium. The androecium is al ...

. It is entirely restricted to south-west Tasmania's Wilderness World Heritage Area where it occurs on white

Precambrian The Precambrian ( ; or pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pC, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of t ...

quartzitic sand deposited by alluvial flows, and on margins of buttongrass (''

Gymnoschoenus sphaerocephalus ''Gymnoschoenus sphaerocephalus'', commonly known as buttongrass, is a species of tussock-forming sedge from southeastern Australia. It forms part of a unique habitat in Tasmania. It was originally described as ''Chaetospora sphaerocephala'' by ...

'') sedge land. Species most commonly found in association with ''A. leucobryoides'' include: '' Leptocarpus tenax'', ''

Chordifex hookeri ''Chordifex hookeri'' is commonly known as woolly buttonrush or cord-rush. It is a rush species of the genus '' Chordifex'' in the family Restionaceae. The species is endemic to Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an i ...

'', and '' Actinotus suffocatus''. Currently, ''A. leucobryoides'' is listed as rare under the Tasmanian Threatened Species Protection Act 1995.

Description

Mature plants are small, pale brown or whitish green when dry. The stems are approximately 2 cm long, and are irregularly and sparsely branched. Leaves on the stem have a broadly lanceolate shape 3.6-4.3 mm long.

Spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual reproduction, sexual (in fungi) or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for biological dispersal, dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores fo ...

capsules are whitish-yellow and globose, atop a seta (stalk) that is 1.2 cm long.

References

* Johnson, K.A., Whinam, J., Buchanan, A.M. & Balmer, J. (2008) Ecological observations and new locations of a rare moss, ''Ambuchanania leucobryoides'' (Ambuchananiaceae). ''Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania''. 142 (2): 79–84. * Shaw, A. Jonathan, 2000. Phylogeny of the Sphagnopsida Based on Chloroplast and Nuclear DNA Sequence

''The Bryologist'' 103 (2): 277–306. * Shaw, A. Jonathan, Cymon J. Cox & Sandra B. Boles (2003) Polarity of peatmoss (''Sphagnum'') evolution: who says bryophytes have no roots

''American Journal of Botany'' 90: 1777–1787. Sphagnales Monotypic moss genera {{moss-stub