evening all
recently Kiltoncomp posted some photo's of the leafy liverwort
Lophocolea heterophylla with capsules
on Friday I noticed this colony of the very common thallose liverwort
Pellia epiphylla with abundant fruits:
the globose dark olive green capsules open up to expose a fluffy head of 'elaters' which help to distribute the spores:
http://www.anbg.gov.au/bryophyte/ill...s/hahn-72a.gif
the spiral shape helps them twist and untwist in different humidity levels and thus helps spread the spores (myxo's often have somewhat analogous elaters, although the two groups are of course not even remotely related to one another)
you will find
Pellia on dampish slopes in woods, particularly where on a somewhat heavy soil - so yet something else to look out for at this "boring" time of year
cheers
Chris