Liverwort

Liverwort is a terrible name for a beautiful bryophyte. This patch of tiny plants was found in a dip in the rock at the Pickerel River Ontario Canada. Mosses and liverworts are a distinct group of plants collectively referred to as bryophytes. They reproduce by spores (not flowers/seeds), and lack roots and a vascular system (they have no veins). These plants are most often observed in moist, shaded places, though they occur in nearly all ecosystems on Earth. It grows on moist soil and rocks in damp habitats such as the banks of streams and pools, bogs, fens and dune slacks. This plant rapidly colonizes burnt ground after fires and there was a huge forest fire in 2018. This image was taken in summer 2019 and there were quite a number of patches of this Marchantia bryophyte, mostly on rocks.