Asterella drummondii

A thallose liverwort at Strathnairn, ACT

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Identification history

Asterella drummondii	29 May 2025	MichaelMulvaney
Asterella drummondii	23 Oct 2023	Heino1
Unverified	2 Sep 2023	Cristy1676

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User's notes

Really interesting lil things! About 1cm high, black stem and from the top appears to have four sections to which each section has the web like white mesh?. Also appeared to be living along side what appears to be little Sundews?. (I'll do a separate ID for the Sundews).

1 comment

Heino1 wrote:

16 Oct 2023

Not a fungus. This is part of a liverwort plant, probably the species Asterella drummondii. Below the cap you can probably make out a couple of blackish balls behind those white ribbons. Those balls are spore capsules. The whole stalk & cap structure arises from the vegetative part of the plant, a narrow, strap-like growth. Here are links to a few Asterella photos (the first two and the fourth show the strap-like growth, with no spore-capsules, and in the third you see a colony with numerous capsule-bearing structures):
https://www.anbg.gov.au/bryophyte/photos-captions/asterella-drummondii-6.html
https://www.anbg.gov.au/bryophyte/photos-captions/asterella-drummondii-7.html
https://www.anbg.gov.au/bryophyte/photos-captions/asterella-drummondii-9.html
https://www.anbg.gov.au/bryophyte/photos-captions/asterella-drummondii-RWP-6426.html

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Location information

Coordinates 148.990613 -35.233743
Altitude 659.2m
Maps Ginninderry Conservation Corridor
Places Strathnairn, ACT

Sighting information

3 Abundance
2 Sep 2023 03:52 PM Recorded on
Cristy1676 Recorded by
Collections
Cristy1676 NatureMapr Canberra & Southern Tablelands Mosses, Liverworts & Hornworts Lichens; Mosses & other Bryophytes

Species information

Asterella drummondii Scientific name
A thallose liverwort Common name
Not Sensitive
Local native
Non-invasive or negligible
Up to 827.99m Recorded at altitude
Machine learning

Record quality

Images or audio
More than one media file
Verified by an expert moderator
Nearby sighting(s) of same species
GPS evidence of location
Description
Additional attributes

Australian Capital Territory

New South Wales

Queensland

Northern Territory

Western Australia

South Australia

Victoria

Tasmania