Bryophytes of Nevada On-line
Noteworthy Bryophyte Records from the Mojave Desert

ABSTRACT-- Twenty-two species of bryophytes are noted as either new to the northern Mojave Desert or whose distribution is significantly expanded within the region, including seven Nevada state records. Species of note include only the third locality for Grimmia americana, a series of new localities for the rare Crossidium seriatum, and significant disjunct populations of Syntrichia princeps and Claopodium whippleanum.

 The approximated natural boundaries of the northern Mojave Desert include the two southernmost counties in Nevada (Clark and Nye Cos.), the southwesternmost county in Utah (Washington Co.), and the northwesternmost county in Arizona (Mohave Co.; MacMahon & Wagner 1985). Recently, a list of bryophyte species from this region was compiled from the literature (Stark & Whittemore 2000), drawing chiefly from state and regional checklists and treatments (Lawton 1958; Haring 1961; Flowers 1973; Spence 1988). The region as construed includes 75 species of mosses and 5 species of liverworts. Greater than half of the bryophytes from the northern Mojave Desert belong to the more xeric families Pottiaceae, Grimmiaceae, and Orthotrichaceae.

 Ongoing collecting efforts in southern Nevada indicate that this region is not well explored bryologically. This is indicated by the recent discovery of a new species of Didymodon in the remote southeastern portion of Nevada (Zander et al. 1995), and an as yet undescribed species in the liverwort genus Targionia that appears to be endemic to the Mojave Desert (Whittemore 1996--Alan, need citation for your presentation). In the present paper, we discuss several species of bryophytes that are reported new to the northern Mojave Desert, or whose distributions are considerably broadened within the region.

 Nomenclature follows Anderson et al. (1990), Zander (1993), and Stotler & Crandall-Stotler (1977).

Barbula convoluta Hedw.
Nevada, Clark Co., southern Gale Hills, lower end of Lovell Wash, 0.3 km upstream of confluence of Lovell Wash and West End Wash, along steep, north-facing outcrop adjacent to dirt road, elev. 550 m, Stark NV-1941 (UNLV), 1942 (UNLV, BUF). Nevada state record. This is the first report of this rather wide-ranging species from the Mojave Desert, with the only other report from the interior basins of North American from southern Idaho (Flowers 1973; Spence 1988). From western North America, B. convoluta is known from British Columbia to Baja California (Lawton 1971; Zander 1994a).

Claopodium whippleanum (Sull. in Whipple & Ives) Ren. & Card.
Nevada, Clark Co., Spring Mountains, Red Rock Canyon National Recreation Area, steep side canyon near mouth of Red Rock Canyon, near confluence with Red Rock Wash; in deep shade beneath boulders, on sandstone rock and dead wood, elev. 1450 m, Stark NV-316 (UNLV). Nevada state record. Found in an area that never receives direct sunlight, in a side canyon on a steep slope under boulders. In North America, the species ranges from northwestern Mexico to British Columbia (Crum & Buck 1994), and is reported from southern California as occasional in cismontane lowlands (Harthill et al. 1979). It is distributed in western North America and also the Mediterranean region (Schofield and Crum 1972). A disjunct population was reported from high elevation in northeastern Arizona (Apache Co., 9500 ft, Haring 1961).

Coscinodon calyptratus (Hook. in Drumm.) C.Jens. ex Kindb.
Reported from the Mojave Desert of southwestern Utah (Hastings 1999). Previously reported from Mohave County, Arizona (Haring 1961, as Grimmia calyptrata Hook.), and from Lincoln Co., Nevada (Lawton 1958, as Grimmia calyptrata Hook.). This species is broadly distributed in Nevada and Utah, reaching its southwesternmost extent in the Mojave Desert (Hastings 1999).

Crossidium seriatum Crum & Steere
Nevada, Clark County, northern foothills of Lime Ridge, c. 16 km north of Gold Butte, elev. 487 m, Stark NV-232a (UNLV, MEXU); southern Moapa Valley, sandstone bluffs along periphery of valley, c. 8 km south of Overton, along Hwy 169, elev. 488 m, Stark NV-872 (UNLV, MEXU); Black Mountains, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, gypsum formation 2.1 km down Boathouse Cove Road from North Shore Road turnoff, elev. 650 m, Stark & Bonine NV-3045 (UNLV); Arizona, Mohave County, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Lake Mead landing, mouth of Kingman Wash, elev. 396 m, W. Niles s.n., 24 Feb 1995 (UNLV). Recently recorded from the state of Nevada (Zander et al. 1995), the range of C. seriatum is expanded to a scattering of southern Nevada locations and also into Mohave County, Arizona. This globally rare species is presently known from only a handful of populations worldwide outside of the state of Nevada: Mariposa County, Arizona (Zander 1977), Cedros Island, Mexico, San Diego County, California (Stark & Whittemore 1992), and Spain (Cano et al. 1992).

Didymodon vinealis (Brid.) Zand.
Nevada, Clark County, Southern Gale Hills, lower end of Lovell Wash, 0.3 km upstream of confluence of Lovell Wash and West End Wash, along steep, north-facing outcrop adjacent to dirt road, elev. 550 m, Stark NV-1946 (UNLV); Lake Mead National Recreation Area, 4.3 km south of Rogers Spring, narrow canyon on north side of North Shore Rd, elev. 750 m, Stark NV-2059a (UNLV); Newberry Mountains, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, "Needles Eye", c. 7.2 km north on Christmas Tree Pass Rd from Hwy 77E, elev. 817 m, Stark NV-76 (UNLV). Recently reported from the northern Mojave from the River Mountains as an incidental species (Stark 1997), the range of D. vinealis is considerably broadened here.

Entosthodon planoconvexus (Bartr.) Grout
Nevada, Nye County, Nevada Test Site, Rock Valley, north-facing foothills of Spectre Range, elev. 1159 m, growing with an undescribed species of Targionia, Stark NV-724 (UNLV). Nevada state record, and one of only four localities worldwide. Other known localities include Washington County, Utah (Flowers 1973), Pima County, Arizona (Haring 1961), and the northern Egyptian desert (Shabbara 1999).

Fissidens sublimbatus Grout
Nevada, Newberry Mountains, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Pipe Spring Canyon, near Pipe Spring, west-facing soil in rock crevice, elev. 732 m, Stark NV-99 (UNLV, PAC). New to the northern Mojave Desert and a Nevada state record. Known also from Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Baja California (Pursell 1994).

Funaria hygrometrica Hedw.
Nevada, Clark County, Newberry Mountains, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, "Needles Eye,", c. 7.2 km north on Christmas Tree Pass Rd from Hwy 77E, elev. 817 m, Stark NV-80 (UNLV); Virgin Mountains, east base of South Virgin Peak Ridge, Lime Spring Canyon, abundant in moist drainages, W. Niles s.n., 22 Mar 1996 (UNLV). This cosmopolitan species is reported as new to southern Nevada, having previously been reported from Mohave County, Arizona (Haring 1961).

Funaria muhlenbergii Turn.
Nevada, Clark County, northern River Mountains, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, 5.6 km due east of Saddle Island, elev. 610 m, Stark NV-144 (UNLV); Eldorado Mountains, Keyhole Canyon Archeological Site, just north of base of Keyhole Canyon, elev. 274 m, Stark NV-190b (UNLV); Muddy Mountains, southern end of White Basin, adjacent to West Longwell Ridge, c. 6.4 km by road northwest of Bitter Spring, elev. 650 m, Stark & Bonine NV-3013 (UNLV). Reported from the California Mojave (Harthill et al. 1979), and broadly distributed in western North America (Smith 1994).

Grimmia americana Bartr.
Nevada, Newberry Mountains, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Grapevine Canyon, on north-facing rock, elev. 793 m, Stark NV-16 (UNLV). Nevada State record, and one of only three populations of this species known worldwide, one from Arizona (county not given, Crum 1994), and one from western Texas (type locality, Jeff Davis County, Texas; Crum & Anderson 1981). This species is not listed in Haring (1961) as occurring in Arizona, and is not yet known from Mexico (Crum 1994). The distinguishing characters between G. americana and G. plagiopodia Hedw. apparently are that G. americana has bistratose upper leaf cells (as does G. anodon Bruch & Schimp. in B.S.G.), whereas G. plagiopodia does not. Both species differ from G. anodon in being peristomate. Grimmia plagiopodia is listed in Haring (1961) as occurring only in Yavapai County, Arizona, from two collections.

Grimmia moxleyi Williams in Holz.
Nevada, Clark County, Muddy Mountains, southern end of White Basin, adjacent to West Longwell Ridge, c. 6.4 km by road northwest of Bitter Spring, elev. 650 m, Stark & Bonine NV-3004 (UNLV); foothills of Black Mountains, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, along tributary to Manganese Wash (from the northwest), c. 6.4 km north of Boathouse Cove, elev. 650 m, Stark & Bonine NV-3071 (UNLV). New to the northern Mojave Desert exclusive of California. Grimmia moxleyi is reported from the California Mojave Desert as infrequent (Harthill et al. 1979), and its presence is expected based on a Death Valley locality noted in Koch (1954). A common associate of G. orbicularis Bruch ex Wils. in Nevada, G. moxleyi is endemic to the southwestern U.S. and adjacent northern Mexico (Greven 1999). It has been reported without specifics from Arizona and Nevada (Crum 1994). Recently, Muñoz (2000) regarded G. moxleyi as synonomous with the wide-ranging G. orbicularis, because the hair-point differences between the two species intergraded.

Homalothecium nevadense (Lesq.) Ren. & Card.
Nevada, Nye County, Spring Mountains, Wood Canyon, in vicinity of Wood Canyon Spring, Stark & Landau NV-1794 (UNLV). First report for the Mojave Desert. This species is reported from southern California (Harthill et al. 1979) as frequent in the region, but excluding deserts. The species reaches its southernmost extent in northern Arizona (Flowers 1973).

Hypnum vaucheri Lesq.
Nevada, Spring Mountains, Red Rock Canyon National Recreation Area, steep side canyon near mouth of Red Rock Canyon, near confluence with Red Rock Wash, on shaded rock, elev. 1450 m, Stark NV-315b (UNLV). New to the Mojave Desert. Frequent in southern Utah along the Colorado-Green River Basin (Flowers 1973).

Pseudocrossidium crinitum (Schultz) Zand.
Nevada. Muddy Mountains, Valley of Fire State Park, 0.5 km south of "Mouse's Tank," sandstone bluffs on west side of road, elevation 700 m, Stark & Bonine NV-3076, 3084 (UNLV). Second report for state of Nevada. The locality cited may be the same populations noted by Lawton (1958, as Tortula aurea Bartr.). This report thus confirms the only known population from the Mojave Desert, with the nearest known locality just outside the Mojave Desert in southern Utah (Spence 1987). This species is fairly common in Mexico, according to Zander (1994b), occurring in several Mexican states, and is listed from five counties in Arizona (Haring 1961). Despite the abundance of P. crinitum at this site, no sporophytes were found, consistent with the pattern of an absence of male plants in North America.

Pterygoneurum subsessile (Brid.) Jur.
Nevada, Clark County, Eldorado Mountains, Keyhole Canyon Archeological Site, just north of base of Keyhole Canyon, elev. 274 m, Stark NV-192a (UNLV); Newberry Mountains, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Grapevine Canyon, 3.2 km north on Christmas Tree Pass Rd from Hwy 77E, beyond petroglyphs to the east, elev. 854 m, Stark NV-22c (UNLV). Second report from the northern Mojave Desert; found previously in Washington County, Utah (Flowers 1973).

Syntrichia bartramii (Steere in Grout) Zand.
Nevada, Clark County, Newberry Mountains, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Grapevine Canyon, 3.2 km north on Christmas Tree Pass Rd from Hwy 77E, beyond petroglyphs to the east, elev. 854 m, Stark NV-32B, 38B (UNLV). Nevada state record. Previously reported from the southern Californian Mojave Desert (Harthill et al. 1979), S. bartramii occurs in northwestern Mexico and in the bordering states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, with infrequent reports north of this region (Mishler 1994). On of the two specimens cited above from Nevada was found on juniper growing with S. pagorum. Epiphytic mosses are exceedingly rare in the Mojave Desert below 2000 m.

Syntrichia pagorum (Milde) Amann
Nevada, Clark County, Newberry Mountains, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, "Needles Eye,", c. 7.2 km north on Christmas Tree Pass Rd from Hwy 77E, elev. 817 m, Stark NV-82A (UNLV); Pipe Spring Canyon, in vicinity of Pipe Spring, elev. 732 m, Stark NV-91 (UNLV). New to the Mojave Desert. Previously reported from Nevada (Crum & Anderson 1981), this species is distributed from eastern North America across the southern portion of the USA to the west coast. However, reports are lacking for Utah and southern California. Syntrichia pagorum is known only from female plants in the USA.

Syntrichia princeps (De Not.) Mitt.
Nevada, Clark County, Spring Mountains, Red Rock Canyon National Recreation Area, near mouth of Red Rock Canyon, near confluence with Red Rock Wash, on partially shaded rock, elev. 1450 m, Stark NV-291 (UNLV); Virgin Mountains, east base of South Virgin Peak Ridge, Lime Spring Canyon, on north-facing slope, at edge of watercourse on moist drainages, Niles s.n., 22 March 1996 (UNLV). These two localities constitute the second and third reports from the northern Mojave Desert, with the first from Washington County, Utah (Flowers 1973). Syntrichia princeps is distinguished from the related S. ruralis (Hedw.) Web. & Mohr by its synoicous condition, and is disjunct from the western coast of North America to the Spring Mountains and Virgin Mountains of southern Nevada and southern Utah, respectively. Syntrichia princeps is one of several species in Utah known only from Washington County (Flowers 1973).

Syntrichia ruralis (Hedw.) Web. & Mohr
Nevada, Muddy Mountains, Valley of Fire State Park, 0.5 km south of "Mouse's Tank," sandstone bluffs on west side of road, elevation 700 m, Stark & Bonine 3077, 3078 (UNLV). Oddly, S. ruralis is known from only two sites from the northern Mojave Desert, from Mohave County, Arizona (Haring 1961), and from the River Mountains in Nevada (Stark et al. 1998). The locality given represents one of the few sites known to the authors in the Mojave Desert where male, female, and sporophytic plants co-occur.

Tortula atrovirens (Sm.) Lindb.
Nevada, Clark County, Bitter Spring Valley, Echo Wash, gypsum formation c. 1.6 km east of Bitter Spring, elev. 530 m, Stark NV-2087 (UNLV); northern River Mountains, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, 5.6 km due east of Saddle Island, elev. 610 m, Stark NV-139a (UNLV); Newberry Mountains, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Grapevine Canyon, 3.2 km north on Christmas Tree Pass Rd from Hwy 77E, beyond petroglyphs to the east, elev. 854 m, Stark NV-39a (UNLV). Only a single prior report from the northern Mojave Desert exists, and this as an incidental (Stark et al. 1998), thus indicating that the species is probably much more common than reports indicate. Tortula atrovirens was previously known as Desmatodon convolutus (Brid.) Grout.

Weissia condensa (Voit) Lindb.
Nevada, Clark County, foothills on northwest side of River Mountains, c. 6.4 km from downtown Henderson, elev. 671 m, Stark NV-120 (UNLV, BUF). First report from southern Nevada. Reported from Arizona, southern Utah, Texas, and Mexico, W. condensa is a widespread species that also occurs in South America, Africa, and Europe (Flowers 1973, as W. tortilis (Schwaegr.) C. Muell.; Zander 1994c).

Asterella californica (Hampe) Underw.
W. E. Niles s.n., 6 March 1998 (UNLV): Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Indian Hills, north of Devil's Cove, Gold Butte area, T20S, R70E, elevation 650 m; at base of limestone boulders. Nevada state record. Known from Mohave Co., Arizona (Evans 1917), the Grand Canyon, Arizona, and Joshua Tree National Park, California (Alan, need ref).

Acknowledgments. We thank the National Geographic Society (grant no. 5429-95) for providing funds for travel and the Missouri Botanical Garden for administering this grant; Wesley Niles for contributing specimens critical to this study; Mary Bonine, Fred Landau, and Robin Stark for assistance in the field; Ronald Pursell for identifications of Fissidens and Richard Zander for determinations in the Pottiaceae; the granting of collecting permits from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Las Vegas office (Gayle Marrs-Smith), Lake Mead National Recreation Area (Elizabeth Powell and Jennifer Haley), U.S.D.A. Forest Service (Kerwin Dewberry), Nevada State Parks, and the Nevada Test Site; and Bruce Allen, Bruce Lund, and Philip Medica for logistic support.

Anderson, L. E., H. A. Crum and W. R. Buck. 1990. List of the mosses of North America north of Mexico. Bryologist 93: 448-499.

Cano, M. J., J. Guerra, and R. M. Ros. 1992. Crossidium seriatum (Pottiaceae, Musci) new to Europe. Bryologist 95: 280-282.

Crum, H. A. 1994. Grimmia. p. 386-408 In A. Sharp, H. Crum, & P. Eckel (eds.), The Moss Flora of Mexico. Pt. 1. Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden 69, New York.

----- and L. E. Anderson. 1981. Mosses of Eastern North America, 2 vols. Columbia University Press.

----- and W. R. Buck. 1994. Leskeaceae. p.847-860 In A. Sharp, H. Crum, & P. Eckel (eds.), The Moss Flora of Mexico. Pt. 2. Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden 69, New York.

Evans, A. W. 1917. Preliminary list of Arizona Hepaticae. Bryologist 20: 60-62.

Flowers, S. 1973. Mosses: Utah and the West. Brigham Young University Press, Provo, UT. 567p.

Greven, H. 1999. A synopsis of Grimmia in Mexico, including Grimmia mexicana, sp. nov. Bryologist 102: 426-436.

Haring, I. M. 1961. A checklist of the mosses of the state of Arizona. Bryologist 64: 222-240.

Harthill, M. P., D. M. Long, and B. D. Mishler. 1979. Preliminary list of southern California mosses. Bryologist 82: 260-267.

Hastings, R. I. 1999. Taxonomy and biogeography of the genus Coscinodon (Bryopsida, Grimmiaceae) in North America, including a new species. Bryologist 102: 265-286.

Koch, L. F. 1954. Distribution of California mosses. American Midland Naturalist 51: 515-538.

Lawton, E. 1958. Mosses of Nevada. Bryologist 61: 314-334.

MacMahon, J. A. and F. H. Wagner. 1985. The Mojave, Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts of North America. p. 105-202 In M. Evenari, I. Noy-Meir, and D.W. Goodall (eds.), "Hot Deserts and Arid Shrublands. Ecosystems of the World", vol. 12A. Elsevier, Amsterdam.

Mishler, B. D. 1994. Tortula. p. 319-350 In A. Sharp, H. Crum, & P. Eckel (eds.), The Moss Flora of Mexico. Pt. 1. Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden 69, New York.

Muñoz, J. 2000. New synonyms in Grimmia (Grimmiaceae). Journal of Bryology 22: 99-102.

Pursell, R. A. 1994. Fissidentales. p. 31-81 In A. Sharp, H. Crum, & P. Eckel (eds.), The Moss Flora of Mexico. Pt. 1. Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden 69, New York.

Schofield, W B. and H. A. Crum. 1972. Disjunctions in bryophytes. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 59: 174-202.

Shabbara, H. M. 1999. Three new records of Funariaceae from Egypt. Journal of Bryology 21: 201-205.

Smith, D. K. 1994. Funariaceae. p. 427-442 In A. Sharp, H. Crum, & P. Eckel (eds.), The Moss Flora of Mexico. Pt. 1. Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden 69, New York.

Spence, J. R. 1987. Pseudocrossidium aureum (Bartr.) Zand. (Pottiaceae, Musci) new to Utah. Great Basin Naturalist 47: 347-348.

-----. 1988. Checklist of the mosses of the Intermountain West, USA. Great Basin Naturalist 48: 394-401.

Stark, L. R. 1997. Phenology and reproductive biology of Syntrichia inermis (Bryopsida, Pottiaceae) in the Mojave Desert. The Bryologist 100: 13-27.

-----, B. D. Mishler, & D. N. McLetchie. 1998. Sex expression and growth rates in natural populations of the desert soil crustal moss Syntrichia caninervis. Journal of Arid Environments 40: 401-416.

----- and A. T. Whittemore. 1992. Additions to the bryoflora of southern California. Bryologist 95: 65-67.

----- and A. T. Whittemore. 2000. Bryophytes from the northern Mojave Desert. Southwestern Naturalist 45: 226-232.

Stotler, R. and B. Crandall-Stotler. 1977. A checklist of the liverworts and hornworts of North America. Bryologist 80: 405-428.

Zander, R. H. 1977. Crossidium seriatum found in the U.S.A. Bryologist 80: 1709-171.

-----. 1993. Genera of the Pottiaceae: Mosses of Harsh Environments. Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences Vol. 32. Buffalo, NY. 378p.

Zander, R. H. 1994a. Barbula. p. 286-296 In A. J. Sharp, H. Crum & P. M. Eckel (eds.), The Moss Flora of Mexico. Pt. 1. Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden 69, New York.

-----. 1994b. Pseudocrossidium. p. 296-299 In A. J. Sharp, H. Crum & P. M. Eckel (eds.), The Moss Flora of Mexico. Pt. 1. Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden 69, New York.

-----. 1994c. Weissia. p. 213-225 In A. J. Sharp, H. Crum & P. M. Eckel (eds.), The Moss Flora of Mexico. Pt. 1. Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden 69, New York.

-----, L. R. Stark, and G. Marrs-Smith. 1995. Didymodon nevadensis, a new species for North America, with comments on phenology. Bryologist 98: 590-595.

This page is part of the
Bryophytes of Nevada On-line
web site, with content contributed by
Dr. Lloyd Stark
Plant Ecologist, Bryologist and Assistant Professor
University of Nevada at Las Vegas
and
James R. Shevock
University of California, Berkeley, and
California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco
and hosted by the
Nevada Natural Heritage Program
on the
State of Nevada web server