English rock-bristle  (Seligeria calycina)

Authentication

Information authenticated by Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew:
http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/

Glossary

  • Endemic: a species or taxonomic group that is only found in one particular country or geographic area.
  • Gametophyte: a life cycle stage in plants, which has one set of chromosomes (threads of DNA protein) in the cell nucleus (a condition known as ‘haploid’), which arises from a spore (which is also haploid). Sex cells (gametes) are produced during the gametophyte stage. This is the dominant life-cycle stage in liverworts and mosses.
  • Rhizoids: thread-like structures that help to anchor the plant to the substrate, and absorb minerals and water. In liverworts they consist of a single cell, in mosses they are multi-cellular.
  • Spore: microscopic particles involved in both dispersal and reproduction. They comprise a single or group of unspecialised cells and do not contain an embryo, as do seeds.
  • Sporophyte: the stage of a plant life cycle that produces spores (microscopic particles used in dispersal and reproduction). This stage is diploid (in the cell nucleus there are two sets of chromosomes - threads of DNA protein) and is dominant in ‘higher’ plants such as flowering plants.
  • Vascular system: in plants, the system that allows water and nutrients to move around.

References

  1. National Biodiversity Network Species Dictionary (August 2002) http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nbn/
  2. Smith, A. J. E. (1978) The moss flora of Britain and Ireland. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
  3. Watson, E. V. (1995) British mosses and liverworts, 3rd edition. Cambridge University Press
  4. UKBAP (August 2002): http://www.ukbap.org.uk
  5. Hill, M. O., Preston, C. D, & Smith, A. J. E. (1992) Atlas of the Bryophytes of Britain and Ireland. Volume 2. Mosses (except diplolepideae). Harley Books, London.
  6. Church, J. M., Hodgetts, N. G., Preston, C. D. & Stewart, N. F. (2001) British Red Data Books: mosses and liverworts. Joint Nature Conservancy Committee, Peterborough.
  7. Mosses and Liverworts in Wales (August 2002): http://home.clara.net/adhale/bryos/
  8. Egerton, H. & Jones, F. (Eds.) (1998) Nature Encyclopedia. Dorling Kindersley, London.
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