Bryum gemmiparum De Not.

Osman, Imen Ben, Hugonnot, Vincent, Muller, Serge D. & Daoud-Bouattour, Amina, 2022, New bryophytes for Tunisia (North Africa). Part 2: other families, Cryptogamie, Bryologie 20 (11), pp. 173-185 : 177

Bryum gemmiparum De Not.

SPECIMEN EXAMINED. — Tunisia. Mogods, Bizerte Governorate, Delegation of Ghezala: Oued Zitoun, sterile, 37°00’16.00”N, 09°23’06.35”E, 389 m a.s.l. (site 2019-89), 10.IV.2019, Ben Osman & Hugonnot (TUN[TUN2019-222]).

REMARKS

Bryum gemmiparum was found growing in a calcareous wadi bordered by riparian woods dominated by Nerium oleander L. and Olea europaea var. sylvestris , along tufa mini-dams obstructing water flows. In Europe, this moss grows in cushions on wet rocks running along watercourses (Demaret 1993), and on sunny, flat silty sandstone rocks in zones flooded by rivers ( Holyoak 2014). Our specimen was collected in a comparable habitat. In Tunisia, violent periodic flooding may help maintain pioneer species such as Bryum gemmiparum by regularly denuding rock surfaces.

The species is immediately recognizable by the occurrence of several shiny gemmiform bulbils per axil. These are characteristically ovoid-obloid, foliated from the middle to the apex, attenuated and stipitate at the base.

Bryum gemmiparum is a Mediterranean-Atlantic species widespread in Europe, including Macaronesia ( Hodgetts & Lockhart 2020; Holyoak 2021), and present in North Africa ( Ros et al. 2013), Southwestern Asia ( Kürschner & Frey 2020) and North America ( Spence 2014).