liverwort

[ liv-er-wurt, -wawrt ]

noun

1. any mosslike plant of the class Hepaticae, growing chiefly on damp ground, rocks, or on tree trunks and helping the decay of logs and the disintegration of rocks.

liverwort

/ ˈlɪvəˌwɜːt /

noun

1. any bryophyte plant of the phylum Hepatophyta , growing in wet places and resembling green seaweeds or leafy mosses See also scale moss

liverwort

/ lĭv′ər-wûrt′,-wôrt′ /

1. Any of numerous small, green nonvascular plants of the division Marchantiophyta. Many liverworts reproduce asexually by means of gemmae. They also reproduce sexually, and their free-swimming sperm, produced in structures called antheridia, require liquid water, such as splashing raindrops, to reach the egg-producing archegonia. After fertilization, the small sporophyte grows directly on or in the gametophyte and is nourished by it. Liverworts are common in the tropics and often grow in moist soil, on damp rocks, and on tree trunks. Some liverworts have leafy bodies, while others have only a simple thallus. The name liverwort comes from the liverlike shape of the thalli of some species.
2. See more at bryophyte

Word History and Origins

Origin of liverwort¹

before 1100; Middle English; late Old English liferwyrt. See liver ¹, wort ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of liverwort¹

late Old English liferwyrt

Example Sentences

Others assert for the first part of the name that it comes from the liverwort plant, which grew abundantly in the neighbourhood.

From Project Gutenberg

Half-starved children were selling little bunches of liverwort in the streets.

From Project Gutenberg

Instead of directly forming a fern-plantlet, the spore grows first into a body which closely resembles a small Liverwort.

From Project Gutenberg

The first hepaticas (liverwort) that I saw this year were picked the first day of March.

From Project Gutenberg

The structure of the stem though simple is more complicated than in any liverwort.

From Project Gutenberg