SPECIES FACT SHEETCommon Name: Flat fork mossScientific Name: Fissidens fontanus (Bach. Pyl.) Steud.Recent synonyms: noneDivision: BryophytaClass: BryopsidaOrder: FissidentalaesFamily: Fissidentaceae

Technical Description: Plants dark-green to brownish-black, light-green on leaf tips, stems very branched, flaccid, “feathery”, up to 12 + cm in length; leaves lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, somewhate falcate, bluntly acute, up to 6 mm long, unistratose; margins not bordered, entire; costa ending well below the apex; vaginant laminae 1/3–1/2 the leaf length, unequal; upper median cells irregularly hexagonal, 12–21 µm, smooth. Autoicous; setae short, capsule erect, radially symmetric, about 0.5 mm long; opercula long-rostrate; peristome teeth, irregularly divided ± incomplete, papillose; calyptra conic-mitrate, smooth; spores smooth 18–27 µm.

Distinctive characters: Exeter et al. (2016) list the distinctive characters as (1) long narrow vaginant laminae with unbordered leaves, (2) smooth leaf cells with a costa ending 15-35 cells below the leaf apex, (3) emergent capsule with reduced and usually truncate peristome teeth, and (4) aquatic habitat.

Similar species: Fissidens grandifrons another aquatic species that might be confused with F. fontanus is separated by having stiff, upright multi-cellular leaves, and only grows in areas with high levels of calcium.

Other descriptions and illustrations: Crum & Anderson (1981); Lawton (1971); Pursell (2007); Sharp et al. (1994); Exeter et al. 2016:84-86.

Life History: Specific details for this species are not well documented. In general the protonema, spore germination and development are typical of all mosses. Sporophytes are rare to infrequent. According the Purcell (2007), “In fertile specimens, the clusters of 1-5 axillary, inconspicuous, dark sporophytes in each perichaetium are distinct.” Because this is an aquatic species it is

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often encrusted with diatoms or organic matter which often gives the stems and leaves a black coloration.

Range, Distribution, and Abundance: Fissidens fontanus is known from eastern North America, Mexico, West Indies, Central America, Europe and Africa. In the Pacific Northwestern North America it is known from British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and California.

Oregon Biodiversity Information Center reports it from Clackamas, Curry, Lane, Douglas, Multnomah and Marion Counties.

National Forests: none documented or suspected. BLM Districts: documented on Northwest Oregon.

Historic sites are known from Pierce County, Washington.

This species had several historic collections in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s and then was relatively unseen. It appeared to be rare to uncommon until recently. It has been located in several counties in Oregon State (ORBIC 2016) in the last couple years. It may be more common than once thought.

Habitat Associations: Fissidens fontanus is an aquatic species attached to rocks, logs, or sticks in stagnant or slow moving water or, in areas where the water level fluctuates, it may be attached to the bases of trees and shrubs. A 1914 collection of F. fontanus from Oswego Lake, in Clackamas Co. lists the habitat as “On a submerged Pseudotsuga stump, 3-4 feet below the surface of the water” (NYBG 2008).

Sergio et al. (2010) reported an increase in discovering new populations of Fissidens fontanus in Portugal. They also found populations in a variety of water conditions, even in areas with a moderate amount of water pollution. This coincides with recent findings of this species in the metropolitan area of Portland, Oregon (Christy and Gaddis 2015).

Based on herbarium records, all of the sites from California, Oregon and Washington occurred below 1000 ft. elev. In Idaho the location was at 2067 ft. elev., thus it appears that F. fontanus may be a lower elevation species in western North America.

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Threats: Changes in hydrology could eliminate populations by the loss of water or flooding known populations. Development of hydro-electrical systems, dams, or recreation facilities could also lead to the loss of populations.

Conservation Considerations: Surveying aquatic habitat in lower elevation sites could locate additional sites. Providing coarse woody debris or rocks at known sites could increase habitat for this species.

Conservation rankings: Global: G5 (1991) National: NNRMontana: S1 British Columbia: S1 (2015), Red List

Oregon: S3, List 4 (2016) Washington: S1 R1 R6 TE&P or SSS category (2015): Oregon sensitive/Washington strategic

Preparer: Judith A. Harpel Ph.D.Date Completed: October 2008Edited by: Rob Huff, March 2009

Updated by: David Wagner, May 2010 (Distribution updated; appended photos by Dave Kofranek, discoverer of new Oregon population.)

Reconfigured and revised in June 2017 by Erica Heinlen, adding relevant recent research.

ATTACHMENTS:(1) Photos

References:

B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 2017. Species/Community Summary: Fissidens fontanus. B.C. Ministry of Environment. Available at: http://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/. Accessed on 5 June 2017.

Christy, J. A. and P. K. Gaddis. 2015. HISTORICAL AND EXISTING VASCULAR AND BRYOPHYTE FLORA, FORMER BLUE HERON PAPER MILL, WILLAMETTE FALLS, OREGON CITY, OREGON.

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Crum, H. & L. Anderson. 1981. Mosses of Eastern North America. 2 volumes. Columbia University Press, New York. 1328 pp.

Exeter, R. L., J. Harpel, and D. Wagner. 2016. Rare Bryophytes of Oregon. Salem District, Bureau of Land Management. Salem, Oregon. 97306. ISBN-13: 978-0-9791310-4-2. 378 pp.

Lawton. E. 1971. Moss Flora of the Pacific Northwest. The Hattori Botanical Laboratory. Nichinan, Miyazaki, Japan. 362 pp.

NatureServe. 2017. “Fissidens fontanus.” NatureServe Explorer: An online encyclopedia of life [web application]. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. Version 7.1. (2 February 2009). Data last updated: October 2015. Available at: http://www.natureserve.org/explorer. Accessed on 5 June 2017.

New York Botanical Garden. 2008. American Bryophyte Collection. Specimen ID 314142. http://sciweb.nybg.org/Science2/hcol/bryo/index.asp

Oregon Biodiversity Information Center. 2016. Rare, Threatened and Endangered Nonvascular Plant and Fungi Species of Oregon. Institute for Natural Resources, Oregon State University. Available at: http://inr.oregonstate.edu/sites/inr.oregonstate.edu/files/2016-rte-nonvasc.pdf. Accessed on 5 June 2017.

Purcell, R. 2007. Pp. 331-357 in: Flora of North America Editorial Committee. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Volume 27. Oxford University Press, New York. 713 pp.

Sérgio, C., Vieira, C., Silva, I., Brugués, M., Cros, R. and S. Stow. 2010. Update on the distribution, ecology and conservation of Fissidens fontanus in Portugal. Field bryology 101:7-12.

Sharp, A., & H. Crum, P. Eckle. 1994. The Moss Flora of Mexico. Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden. Vol. 69 part 1. Sphagnales to Bryales. New York Botanical Garden Press. Bronx. 1113 pp.

U. S. Department of Agriculture/U. S. Department of the Interior. 2015. Enclosure 1 - Federally Threatened, Endangered & Proposed Species and Sensitive and Strategic Species List. Interagency Special Status/Sensitive Species Program. Available at: https://www.fs.fed.us/r6/sfpnw/issssp/agency-policy/. Accessed on 5 June 2017.

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Washington Department of Natural Resources. 2015. Washington Natural Heritage Program List of Mosses. Available at: http://file.dnr.wa.gov/publications/amp_nh_mosses.pdf. Accessed on 5 June 2017.

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Attachment 1 – Photos

Fissidens fontanus Lane County, OR. Photo by David Kofranek, 2009.

Fissidens fontanus shoot in water. Photo by David Kofranek, 2009.

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Fissidens fontanus leaf cells. Photo by David Kofranek, 2009.

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Fissidens fontanus habitat. Photo by David Kofranek, 2009.

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