116 MOSSES AND LIVERWORTS 



lobed Liverwort (Aneura mtiltifida), a plant which 

 literally lives in water, generally choosing wet, 

 hoggy ground, in woods or on the sides of ditches, 

 for its home. Its fronds are somewhat thick and 

 fleshy, and are pale yellowish-green in colour, 

 turning brown when old. One of the commonest 

 of the frondose plants is the Forked Liverwort 

 (Metzgeriafurcata, fig. 18). It constantly spreads 

 its light green fronds on moist banks and rocks, 

 or still more commonly on the trunks of trees, 

 creeping in and out among the cracks and 

 crevices of the bark, and often clinging so tightly 

 chat it is a matter of difficulty to dislodge them 

 without cutting away some of the bark as well. 

 Under the microscope numerous short hairs will 

 be noticed, growing on the margins and on the 

 nerve. The Broad-veined Liverwort (Pellia 

 calycina, fig. 19) is also a great lover of moisture, 

 and nothing suits its taste better than the boggy 

 ground bordering some small rivulet, or by the 

 side of a spring. Pig. 20 a single frond of the 

 Four-lobed Liverwort (Lunularia cruciata) has 

 been drawn very nearly the natural size in order 

 to give a better idea of the appearance in the 

 field of a typical frondose plant. It is by no 

 means uncommon, and its small, flat, green fronds 

 have a knack of making their appearance on damp 

 and shady gravel paths, or still more abundantly 

 in the dark corners of a greenhouse, and will 

 even invade the flower-pots themselves, covering 



