Bryophyte of the Month
Bartramia subsymmetrica Cardot
This extremely rare moss inhabits pools and boggy sites in the treeless zone of the south-eastern Alps. At present it is known in Australia only from a few scattered sites on the Bogong High Plains in Victoria and in Kosciuszko National Park, New South Wales.
When it was first discovered in Australia by George Scott and Bruce Fuhrer in 1986, near Mount Nelse in Victoria, Bartramia subsymmetrica was thought to be a new species and was named Bartramia bogongia by David Catcheside. However, Fransén (2004) concluded that B. bogongia was the same as B. subsymmetrica, which had been described from specimens collected at Cumberland Bay on the island of South Georgia by Skottsberg in 1902. Bartramia abbreviata Cardot & Broth. and Exodokidium subsymmetricum (Cardot) Cardot are other synonyms. Matteri (1984) mistakenly considered B. subsymmetrica to be the same as B. patens var. robusta (Hook.f. & Wilson) Matteri (= B. robusta Hook.f. & Wilson).
Bartramia subsymmetrica is distinguished by its very long stems (up to 10 cm in Australian specimens), lack of subfloral innovations, leaves mostly 2–3 cells thick and with a sheathing hyaline base, laminal cells mostly elongate, and (in Australia) its wholly aquatic or semi-aquatic alpine habitat.
Bartramia subsymmetrica is listed as threatened in Victoria under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 and should be proposed for listing as threatened nationally. Current threats include trampling of habitat by feral deer and horses, and a reduction in habitat caused by climate-driven changes in hydrology.
Further reading
Bell G.H. 2006. Bartramia. Flora of Australia 51: 249–256.
Catcheside D.C.1986. The genus Bartramia (Bartramiaceae) in Australia. Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden 45: 618–625.
Fransén S. 2004. A taxonomic revision of extra-Neotropical Bartramia section Vaginella C. Müll. Lindbergia 29: 73–107.
Matteri C.M. 1984. Sinopsis de las especies Andino-Patagónicas, Antarcticas y Subantarcticas de los géneros Bartramia, Bartramidula y Conostomum (Bartramiaceae, Musci). Darwiniana 25: 143–162.
