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

“If I were to make a prediction, I would envisage a growing fraction of the Peninsula’s landscape becoming dominated by a mosaic ecosystem of mosses, lichens, liverworts and fungi,” Roland said.

From Salon

The scientists also found that the function was conserved in several early land plants, like liverworts and mosses.

From Science Daily

"To do so we made use of two systems: gemmae of the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha, and the early-stage first true leaf of Arabidopsis thaliana."

From Science Daily

He thought at first that it might be a liverwort, a kind of organism similar to, but separate from, mosses.

From Scientific American

The research was undertaken by students and staff at the Field Museum in Chicago, which invited museumgoers to participate in a community science project that measured the leaves of liverworts.

From Washington Post