#pellia

[wild-e-eep]

The endive pellia - Apopellia ediviifolia - is a very normal-looking, thallose thalloid liverwort for most of the year, but in autumn, it develops these fancy, repeating Y-shaped bifurcations <3

In the top-left of the image above you can see some lobes that haven't got their autumnal frills yet.

Graphs showing iNaturalist observations for Apopellia endiviifolia peaking in the autumn, when it is both eyecatchingly fancy and easily identified. While observations of the - usually very similar looking - Pellia epiphylla are recorded more evenly through the year.

[cedar-glade]

In one of the back coves found in a narrow ravine on secondary ridge in Copperas Creek Dist, near Snowy arch, a self insulating and very humid microclimate with an acidic seep with steady walled spray at the terminal end. Given enough time a thallus this large can develop undisturbed.  Pellia epiphylla

back cove thallus extravaganza tour 2k18 <3  Just kidding, but who doesn’t like a giant nebulous thallus that’s 13 feet long along one acidic spray cliff in a back cove. RRG Copperas Creek Dist never has disappointed me. This is a species that I wasn’t for sure on for a while.  Pellia epiphylla, common overleaf liverwort, I believe this species is divided into two or more subspecies due to continental division. This species as a whole is circum-temperate. 

https://www.jstor.org/stable/3242623?seq=1 <3

[lovecraftsgarden]

Pellia epiphylla

Overleaf Pellia, Common Pellia

(via)

[cedar-glade]

From an extremely diverse ericaceous seap/ spray cliff community in a backcove, Copperas Creek Dist. RRG, KY

Honestly I’ve learned a lot today from just reading through guides:

Round lobed simple capsules are a distinct structural element associated with Metzgeriales within the liverwort group. These tend to be simple and black topped or simple and brown topped. The somewhat complex aggregate or umbrella looking structures are an associate with the flat thallus liverworts Marchantiales. These are considered relatively passed on outgroup characteristics or synapimorphic traits.

Only one group is present here though it is extremely hard to see strict features and potentially impossible for me to get an ID on outside of genera since I did not collect a specimen at the time ( 2020). 

Mosses, Liverworts, and Hornworts of the North East  organized by Dr. Ralph Pope has an example of a specimen from PA photographed and collected by Dr. Bob “Robert” Kilps from OSU( Termatadon on IG go follow him seriously) Who is one of 5 decent lichen, moss, hornwort, and liverwort experts/bloggers in the state of Ohio. 

I know that this has to be Pellia spp. I would like to go with Pellia epiphylla, though another range relative exists that could possibly have disjunction in RRG. Pellia neesiana, is essentially the same; however, archegonium and antheridia are found on separate plants, making it “dioicous”  which must be the term used in these books to describe nonvascular  dioecious tendency (di = two ecium= house). The reproductive sections are on a psuedo-involucra l( ivolucre are true bracts, this is a bract like hood on the thallus)  hood or a phyllon hood( phyllon= upon the leaf). Since Pellia epiphylla has a range associated more southen than P. neesiana which isn’t found often south of Canada and I see two forms of setae occuring in-situ at the same time with translucent setae, I feel somewhat safe calling this Pellia epiphylla.

[nanocubism]