Cephaloziella rubella
Cephaloziella rubella (Nees) Warnst.
Cephaloziellaceae
Conservation status. Endangered [EN B2ab(iii)].
Morphology and biology. Tiny, perennial, leafy liverwort forming thin dark green to reddish brown mats or growing as single shoots among other bryophytes. The shoots are simple or weakly branched, thread-like, 3–5 mm long, the sterile shoots without amphigastria. The leaves are minute, transversely inserted, entire, more than half is divided into two acute lobes, 4–6 cells wide at base. Uni- or bisexual. Forms greenish oval gemmae.
Habitats and populations. Grows on wet soil and rocks in shady forests with high air humidity. The populations have restricted distribution and good density.
Distribution in Bulgaria. Rila Mts (the region around the Kostenetski waterfall). Reported for Vitosha Mt.
General distribution. Balkan Peninsula, W Europe, Siberia, Japan, North America, the Azores and Canary Islands, Iceland, Greenland. Northern sub-oceanic species.
Threats. Decrease of the air humidity as a consequence of the forest thinning and clear-felling, intensive tourism and trampling of the habitats.
Conservation measures taken. Part of the population in Rila Mts is within Chavcha Nature Monument.
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 elucidate the threatening factors and monitor the populations.
References. Stefanoff & Petrov 1962
Author: Rayna Natcheva
