Ancient survivors

Liverworts are probably the most overlooked members of British flora. They are those strange little green plants with flat, frilly-edged leaves. You might have seen them creeping across damp gravel paths or stones beside ponds, or clinging to the soil of well-watered flower pots. But these extremely ancient plants don’t have real leaves – or even stems and roots. Instead, their cells are organised into plate-like structures – rumpled pieces of wet lettuce, topped by umbrella-like sexual organs.

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Buy excellent guides to common UK flora at fieldstudies-council.org/publications