| BEN |
| BOTANICAL ELECTRONIC NEWS |
|---|
| ISSN 1188-603X |
| No. 440 July 27, 2011 | aceska@telus.net | Victoria, B.C. |
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Accompanying photographs are in the BEN archives: http://bomi.ou.edu/ben/440/juncus_hemiendytus_illustrations.pdf
Several years ago, O. & A. Ceska collected a small rush on Harewood Plains, near Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. They assumed, without any careful examination, that it was Juncus kelloggii Engelm. that they knew from its single Canadian site in Uplands Park, Oak Bay, Victoria. After they posted two photographs of the Harewood Plains plants on E-Flora (http://www.geog.ubc.ca/biodiversity/eflora/index.shtml ) as J. kelloggii, Curtis Björk voiced his suspicion that the plant on the photographs was misidentified. When they examined the original collection, they had to agree that the minute rush was in fact Hermann's Dwarf Rush, Juncus hemiendytus F.J. Herm.
Both Juncus kelloggii and J. hemiendytus belong to section Caespitosi Cout. This is a section of 16 usually-delicate annual species centred in Southern Africa and Western North America. Only a single species of the rushes in this section, Juncus capitatus Weigel, is not confined to one or both of these two areas (J. capitatus is considered native to Europe and Southwest Asia and to North and South Africa. It has been introduced to North and South America, Australia, and New Zealand.). Barbara Ertter suggests that this section of delicate rushes includes two or three possibly unrelated groups of species that evolved independently in two or three different geographical areas (Ertter 1986, 2002).
Juncus hemiendytus is characterized by a combination of characters: a single flower on each flowering stem, mostly 4 perianth segments, bicarpellate gynoecium, and smooth seeds. Specimens from Harewood Plains belong to the typical variety, which has perianth segments shorter than the capsule and the stem not thickened below the flower. The similar Juncus kelloggii usually has more than one flower on the top of the stem, six perianth segments and its seeds have thick longitudinal ridges and fine wavy crossridges. Specimens of plants collected at Uplands Park in Oak Bay, Victoria, Canada, have the longitudinal ridges on the seed coat and clearly belong to J. kelloggii.
In spite of an intensive search, we saw only a single small population of Juncus hemiendytus covering an area of a few square meters. The plants were growing in a vernal seep on thin, humus-rich soil that had accumulated on benches of Nanaimo Formation sandstones. Juncus hemiendytus was accompanied by the following species: Agrostis microphylla Steud., Anthoxanthum odoratum L., Brodiaea coronaria (Salisb.) Engl., Danthonia californica Boland., Dichanthelium acuminatum (Sw.) Gould & C.A. Clark, Isoetes nuttallii A. Braun ex Engelm., Juncus articulates L., Juncus bufonius L., Trifolium variegatum var. major Lojac., and Triteleia hyacinthina (Lindl.) Greene. A large population of Zeltnera muehlenbergii (Griseb.) G. Mans., rare in British Columbia, occurred within 25 m of this site.
This species is locally common in parts of Oregon and California. Juncus hemiendytus var. hemiendytus covers a lot of ground in south-central Oregon and the Modoc Plateau, growing in all sorts of habitats, including disturbed sites like clearcuts and jeep tracks. Its range in Washington, is limited to the Scablands vernal pools in southwest Spokane County, and near Mt. Adams in Klickitat County. The population in Klickitat County may be the closest to the BC population, separated by a distance of about 365 km.
Voucher specimen: UBC V234134 - Juncus hemiendytus F.J. Herman var. hemiendytus - Canada, British Columbia, Vancouver Island, Nanaimo, Harewood Plains. 49.130195° N 123.962947° W; habitat: vernal seeps with thin soil on Nanaimo Formation sandstone outcrops; elev. 170 m; June 22, 2005; Coll.: Ceska, O. & Ceska, A. Collection No.: AOC 33,521
Etymology of the species epithet: hemiendy'tus: from the Greek hemi-, "half," and endyton, "garment, dress," thus "half-dressed" in possible reference to the absence of one (or both) bracts subtending the flower. Cf. http://www.calflora.net/botanicalnames/pageHA-HE.html
References
For Figures see http://bomi.ou.edu/ben/440/juncus_hemiendytus_illustrations.pdf
The Genera of Hyphomycetes is the essential reference for the identification of molds to all those who work with these fungi, including plant pathologists, industrial microbiologists, mycologists and indoor environment specialists, whether they be professionals or students.
The book compiles information on about 1,480 accepted genera of hyphomycetes and about 1,420 genera that are synonyms or names of uncertain identity. Each accepted genus is described using a standardized set of key words, connections with sexual stages (teleomorphs) and synanamorphs are listed, along with known substrates or hosts, and continental distribution. When available, accession numbers for representative DNA barcodes are listed for each genus. A complete bibliography is provided for each genus, giving the reader access to the literature necessary to identify species. Most accepted genera are illustrated by newly prepared line drawings, including many genera that have never been comprehensively illustrated before, arranged as a visual synoptic key.
More than 200 color photographs supplement the line drawings. Diagnostic keys are provided for some taxonomic and ecological groups. Appendices include an integrated classification of hyphomycete genera in the phylogenetic fungal system, a list of teleomorph-anamorph connections, and a glossary of technical terms. With its combination of information on classical morphological taxonomy, molecular phylogeny and DNA diagnostics, this book is an effective modern resource for researchers working on microfungi.
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