31 Comments
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Margaret Tomlinson's avatar

So Seusslike! I'll be keeping my eyes open in damp spots from now on.

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Bryan Pfeiffer's avatar

At my latitude (~45N) the archegoniophores are now little dried brown palms (with but very few new green ones still sprouting).

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CS's avatar

What a wonderful essay! Thank you so much:)

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Richard Harlow's avatar

Excellent essay and many thanks for writing it - brings back wonderful memories of when I was searching for this ancient plant in my younger days!!

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Sue Cloutier's avatar

I usually find them in greenhouses... easy to see there. More challenging to find in the wilds as there are so many distractions. I am slowing down and that helps. Perhaps it is easier to pace myself after 80 years of looking. Age has its rewards. Thank you for sharing your insights and experiences here through words and pictures you create. Much appreciated.

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Bryan Pfeiffer's avatar

Slowing down = goodness.

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Adeline Nina Hofer's avatar

So hot.

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Juliet Wilson's avatar

Excellent post, I really like Marchantia, it grows in several places in Edinburgh, including a few of the cemeteries. (I shared a photo in this blog post, alongside a few photos of cherry trees https://craftygreenpoet.blogspot.com/2022/04/cherry-blossom-everywhere.html) I didn't know all the details about the reproduction though, so thanks for sharing that.

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Bryan Pfeiffer's avatar

Thanks, Juliet. So much more to be said about these amazing plants, of course. (I've been spending time counting their cells 😀.)

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Kai Stapelfeldt's avatar

So cool!!!

Please don't stop capitalizing common names. I've been doing it for decades -- it's the only way to avoid confusion. And yay! for Oxford commas...(I'm one of those unlucky people who copy-edits in their heads as they're reading, and Oxford commas would be very helpful in today's too-often un-proof-read writing.

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Bryan Pfeiffer's avatar

Yay! I think we need to build a movement!

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Micki Colbeck's avatar

Great job explaining a most complex life cycle. I sent a sample of a Conocephalum sp. growing along the river in my yard to a bryologist friend out west.He was very excited to see the cell sizes were far different from his Oregon species. Possibly a new one. Don't liverworts just make you happy?

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Bryan Pfeiffer's avatar

Liverworts = bliss. Oh, my -- can cells = truth? :-) We need to name a Conocephalum for you!

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Micki Colbeck's avatar

Conocephalum mickii

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Kai Stapelfeldt's avatar

And -- as someone who's old enough to have been forced to take 3 years of Latin in school, Mar-can-tia would be "correct," if there is such a thing anymore.

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Bryan Pfeiffer's avatar

I kinda want it to be Mar-CHan-tia. Sounds more enchanting. But, yeah, I agree with the hard C.

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Mary Dansak's avatar

Fascinating. So many incredible wonders at our feet. I’ll be staring more closely at stones now.

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Bryan Pfeiffer's avatar

Especially stones along woodland streams for lots more liverworts and mosses.

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Anne Thomas's avatar

Great finds!

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Bryan Pfeiffer's avatar

You're my gold standard!

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Anne Thomas's avatar

What a compliment!

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Bantering Ram's avatar

Catching up on reading your posts here has made for a great start to my morning, Bryan! That time-lapse video made it even better.

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Bryan Pfeiffer's avatar

Thanks! (I myself now want to make some time-lapse videos. They're potent!)

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M. Iggy's avatar

I worked at a garden with incredible patches of these beautiful little cups and trees. Thank you for your insight on their reproduction 💚

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Bryan Pfeiffer's avatar

I like the comparison -- cups and trees. Thanks, M.!

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Liz Milner's avatar

And another enriching, intelligible and witty lesson, thank you!

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Bryan Pfeiffer's avatar

You've made my day. Thanks, Liz!

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Kai Stapelfeldt's avatar

I understand the desire for enchantment, but luckily that is available anywhere one looks in nature. CHan just feels weird coming out of the mouth (my husband, who also took Latin, had the same reaction). BTW, I've come to realize that Latin/Greek pronunciations differ depending on who taught you, and therefore on who taught them, and on and on back in time, possibly back to the time of Linnaeus or even further.

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Amanda Royal's avatar

Loved: "They predate many insects and birds and dating apps by hundreds of millions of years."

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