Calypogeia fissa
Calypogeia fissa (L.) Raddi
Calypogeiaceae
Conservation status. Endangered [EN B2ab(iii)].
Morphology and biology. A perennial leafy liverwort forming flat pale green mats or growing among other bryophytes. Shoots prostrate, not branched, up to 3 cm long and 0.4 cm wide. Leaves obliquely inserted, broadly ovate, clearly longer than wide, slightly notched or acute at the tip. Amphigastria slightly wider than the stem, 1/2 to 3/4 bilobed, with an additional lateral smaller lobe. Unisexual. Usually forms groups of yellowish gemmae at the shoot tips.
Habitats and populations. Grows on wet sandy-clayey soils along streams in shady beech forests and in open wet habitats up to the timberline. The populations have restricted distribution and low density.
Distribution in Bulgaria. Pirin Mts (Banderishki cirque), Strandzha Mts (the localities Dokuzanski Bair, Milkovo Dere, and Stoilovo village).
General distribution. Europe, the Near East, Himalayas, N Africa, Iceland, Macaronesia. Sub-oceanic/Mediterranean species.
Threats. General drying of the microclimate as a consequence of clear-felling and forest thinning which decreases air humidity.
Conservation measures taken. The population in Pirin Mt is within Pirin National Park and in a site of the European ecological network Natura 2000 in Bulgaria.
Conservation measures needed. To study the dynamics of numbers and areas of the populations, as well as the biology and ecology of the species in Bulgaria, to reveal the threat factors and monitor the populations.
References. Petrov 1963, Šmarda 1970.
Author: Rayna Natcheva
