Liverworts

Photo by Fred Heath

Text by Fred Heath:

The liverworts are a primitive plant. Bryophyte is a traditional name used to refer to all embryophytes (land plants) that do not have true vascular tissue and are therefore called 'non-vascular plants.' Currently bryophytes are thought not to be a natural or monophyletic group; however the name is convenient and remains in use as a collective term for mosses, hornworts, and liverworts. The Liverworts alone are in the Division Marchantiophyta. In ancient times, it was believed that liverworts cured diseases of the liver, hence the name.