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DRIPWORT

[A Liverwort]

Pellia epiphylla

Liverworts Family [Pelliaceae]

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category
category8Liverworts

19th March 2011, Hebden Bridge, West Yorks. Photo: © RWD
Massed together in very large patches, covering a few hundred yards.


19th March 2011, Hebden Bridge, West Yorks. Photo: © RWD
It is a thalloid liverwort, meaning it has what look like flat leaves. In Dripworts case these are smooth, flattened, irregular in shape and wavy-edged to about 1cm across, coloured a dull-green, paler towards the edges. [A little bit of Moss intrudes top and bottom centre].


19th March 2011, Hebden Bridge, West Yorks. Photo: © RWD
Bursting through the thallus at irregular intervals are translucent stems up to 5 cm long with either a small black sphere on the tip, or a brownish fibrous mass (the result after the black spheres have burst open).


19th March 2011, Hebden Bridge, West Yorks. Photo: © RWD
Numerous translucent faintly-green stalks with black spherical capsules at the tip, looking a little like bent pins. The stalks are known as setae. The shiny black capule, which contains the spores, splits assunder when ripe releasing the spores. The spores germinate to become new plants. [Moss intrudes around the edges of the photograph].


Easily confused with : other LIVERWORTS such as Pellia neesia, Pellia endivifolia and Conocephalum conicum, but Dripwort is the more common Thallous Liverwort.

Not to be confused with Dropwort, a flowering plant belonging to the Rose Family.

Distinguishing Feature : Definitely a Liverwort, and a thallous one at that.

Liverworts are Bryophytes. Dripwort, as its name suggests, likes to live on walls or embankments that are always dripping wet, but not standing in water. It grows in the shade, on mountains, rocks and in woods in shaded wet places such as banks, rock faces, under rock ledges, stream, brook and ditch sides (but not in the ditch itself where it would get its feet wet.

It loves acid to neutral soil, including clay, loam and peat.

CYCLO-LIGNANS

The cyclo-lignan Epiphyllic Acid was first isolated from Pellia epiphylla and was since found to be fairly widespread in other Liverwort species.


  Pellia epiphylla  ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ Pelliaceae  

DRIPWORT

[A Liverwort]

Pellia epiphylla

Liverworts Family [Pelliaceae]

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