Asterella californica

Brown withered leaves with a crinkly rough appearance and tiny elongate spore sacs.
Dry and dormant the Asterella californica awaits rainfall.

NPS/ John Brinda

Distribution: Arizona, California, Mexico, Nevada and Oregon

Habitat: chaparral, oak woodlands and desert canyons

Distinctive Characters: thalloid growth form, elevated carpocephala with large longitudinally slit pseudoperianth

Similar Species: The only other thalloid liverwort found on the monument was Targionia which is easily separated by the large 2-valved apical involucres that are usually present. Other similar species in the genera Mannia and Reboulia are usually separated by the appendages of the ventral scales.
 
A green heart shaped leaf with dimples and a slimy appearing texture.
The leaves of liverworts hydrate within 20 minutes of significant rainfall allowing the liverwort to reproduce.

NPS/ John Brinda

 
Thin and dry cream colored sac-like envelopes cling to a dry and rough structure.
The carpocephala produces spores in one cell thick saclike envelopes that break open easily when the liverwort dries out.

NPS/ John Brinda

Last updated: January 15, 2020

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345 East Riverside Drive
Saint George, UT 84790

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(435) 688-3200
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