Oikos Editorial Office

The Liverworts in Baltic and Bitterfeld Amber by Riclef Grolle; Kay MeisterReview by: Kell DamsholtLindbergia, Vol. 30, No. 1 (2005), p. 46Published by: Oikos Editorial OfficeStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20150181 .

Accessed: 14/06/2014 15:30

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

Oikos Editorial Office is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Lindbergia.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 185.44.77.146 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 15:30:17 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Book review The liverworts in Baltic and Bitterfeld amber. 1-91 pages, with 23 plates. By Riclef Grollet and Kay Meister

Weissdorn-Verlag. Jena 2004. Price (D) 19.50 EUR.

This very important and interesting small book de scribes all recently published evidence concerning the liverwort flora found in the Baltic and Bitterfeld amber. Very little is known about the liverworts of the past; the authors of this book have worked for

more than 20 years to assemble the information that is presented in this book about the hepatic flora found in the Baltic amber. It has been suggested that this

widely distributed amber, which has been found in

Poland, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Den

mark, Sweden, Holland, the United Kingdom and

Belorussia, probably originates from a Fennoscandi an coniferous forest north of the Baltic Sea, with the Bitterfeld ambers dating from the Oligoc?ne (23.8 25.3 m.y.a.) and the Baltic ambers dating from the Eocene (54.8-37 m.y.a.). The identity of the tree that

produced the resin that was the source of these am

bers remains unknown.

These ambers are thought to have their origin in the higher mountains of Fennoscandia based on the fact that some of the species preserved in the ambers still exist today and are morphologically unchanged.

One such species is Nipponolejeunea subalpina, which today is a relict species found in the subalpine forest of southeast Asia, which has led to the assump tion that parts of the Fennoscandian Eocene forest

were subalpine, with an environment suitable for

Nipponolejeunea subalpina. Another report of Ptili dium pulcherrimum in amber from the Eocene forest is quite surprising; this lovely find is the subject of a

beautiful cover colour photo. Ptilidiumpulcherrimum is common today as an epiphyte on coniferous tree

trunks in Fennoscandia and elsewhere in the tem

perate zone. The unchanged morphology in these two

species is seen as an indication of very slow evolu

tion in many species of liverworts. It is generally ac

cepted that our current genera also existed in the Ter

tiary, but the cases of Ptilidium pulcherrimum and

Nipponolejeunea subalpina both suggest a much old er origin for certain species of hepatics. The authors

refer to other researchers who have suggested that all existing orders of liverworts were present in the

early Cretaceous. Unfortunately, Cretaceous fossils as well as Cretaceous amber are very scarce.

New collectors may find the many species described both frightening but also encouraging. The many

species of Frullania, found in amber and described

by Gottsche (1886) are considered dubious by the

authors, as they cannot be re-investigated because they

were destroyed during the 2nd World War. They may, however, be encouraging for amber freaks, as they could be re-found in new pieces, particularly in the case for new collectors, are the many cases of de

scribed species, especially of the genus Frullania

(Gottsche 1886), which in thise book indicated says was destroyed during the 2nd World War, and should therefore be considered as dubious.

Each species listing contains a painstakingly thor

ough description based on the specimen/specimens available. The resulting description may not be com

plete, but it is as detailed as can be expected given the material available. Even though incomplete, the

descriptions often contain sophisticated details, which are important when new collections are identified. The description is usually followed by comments that relate the species to existing species. Each species is also illustrated with 1-5 splendid colour photos or

sketches. The book also contains an overview of liv erworts from the Baltic and Bitterfelt amber, with an index to the names used in the work. References are

provided, as is an indication of which of the names selected by the authors have been accepted. The book's

only flaws are minor grammatical and spelling er

rors, which have apparently resulted from the trans lation of the original work, which was written in

German.

Reviewed by: Kell Damsholt C/O Botanisk Centralbibliotek,

S0lvgade 83 opg. S. DK-1307 Copenhagen K. Denmark

46 LINDBERGIA 30:1 (2005)

This content downloaded from 185.44.77.146 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 15:30:17 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions