Mannia androgyna
Mannia androgyna (L.) A. Evans
Grimaldia dichotoma Raddi.3
Aytoniaceae
Conservation status. Critically Endangered [CR B2ab(iii)].
Morphology and biology. Short-lived perennial thalloid liverwort. Strong smell of cedar oil when fresh and after wetting. Thallus olive green without clearly outlined air chambers, dichotomously branched, lobes narrow and linear, 1–2 cm long and 2–3 mm wide. Bisexual, archegoniophores on 2–15 mm long stalks, without groups of scales on top and at the base. The spores are large, 60–75 μm, with restricted potential for long-distance dispersal.
Habitats and populations. Grows on bare, wet soil in sunny places in the zone of oak forests. The populations have restricted distribution and low density.
Distribution in Bulgaria. Pirin Mts (Southern – the hill to the northeast of Nova Lovcha village).
General distribution. Balkan Peninsula, S Europe, N and S Africa, Macaronesia, C Asia. Mediterranean species.
Threats. The species is sensitive to successional changes of the vegetation related to the overgrowing of the open habitats with scrubs, afforestation and overgrazing.
Conservation measures taken. The locality is within 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 elucidate the threatening factors and monitor the populations.
References. Petrov 1962b.
Author: Rayna Natcheva
