Byrum-argenteum_1

Description:

Bryum argenteum Hewdw.Family: BryaceaeEN: Silvergreen Bryum Moss, DE: Silber-Birnmoos, SilbermoosSlo.: srebrna hruica, srebrnkasto mahovjeDat.: March 16. and March 17. 2022Lat.: 46.35976 Long.: 13.70495Code: Bot_1442/2022_DSC6214 and Bot_1443/2022_DSC6298Habitat: Dry, former pasture near an abandoned farm house, semiruderal, skeletal, calcareous ground; dry, mostly sunny, open place; exposed to direct rain, average precipitations ~ 3.000 mm/year, average temperature 7-9 deg C, elevations 553 m (1.800 feet), alpine phytogeographical region. Substratum: shallow, sandy, poor soil. Place: Lower Trenta valley, between villages Soa and Trenta, right bank of river Soa, next to Skokar farmhouse, Trenta 2, East Julian Alps, Posoje, Slovenia EC. Comments (pertain to pictures in Flicker album Bryum argenteum): Bryum argenteum is a common and cosmopolitan moss (absent only from Antarctica). It can be easily recognized by its typical growth: cylindrical shoots about 1 cm or less long with adpressed leaves grow in usually compact, low cushions or mats sometimes of considerable size. They have a characteristic silvery-whitish appearance particularly if dry. This I due to the fact that the cells of the upper part of the leaves lack chlorophyll, hence the shots look greenish silvery-whitish (see Fig. 2M). The moss frequently grows in anthropogenic habitats and on disturbed ground, but also in the wild in many different habitats like on poor soils, and rocks. Ref.:(1) Ian Atherton, Ed., Mosses and Liverworts of Britain and Ireland - a field guide, British Bryological Society (2010), p 596. (2) M. Lth, Mosses of Europe A Photographic Flora, Michael Lth, Vol. 3., 2019, p 877.(3) M. Nebel, G. Philippi, eds., Die Mosse Baden-Wurttembergs, Band 2., (2002), Ulmer, p 55. (4) V. Wirth, R. Duell, Farbatlas Flechten und Moose, Ulmer, (2000), p 253.