''Pleurozia purpurea'' is a species of

thalloid Thallus (plural: thalli), from Latinized Ancient Greek, Greek (), meaning "a green shoot" or "twig", is the vegetative tissue of some organisms in diverse groups such as algae, fungi, some Marchantiophyta, liverworts, lichens, and the Myxogastr ...

liverwort The Marchantiophyta () are a division of non-vascular land plants commonly referred to as hepatics or liverworts. Like mosses and hornworts, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which cells of the plant carry only a single set of g ...

, notable for its red to purple colour. Common names of the species include purple-worm liverwort and purple spoonwort.

Geographic distribution

''Pleurozia purpurea'' grows in bog environments found worldwide. The locations this species has been found in includes the following: "western Scotland and western Ireland, Norway, Faroes, Jan Meyen Island, Himalayas, Alaska, Guadeloupe, Hawaii".

Habitat

''Pleurozia purpurea'' often grows on the edges of bogs, fens and pools. However, it can also be found growing on lawns and other water saturated regions at high elevations, such as a "blanket bog, wet heath, montane turf, scree and peat-covered rock ledges". This species will grow in a matted form across the aforementioned water surfaces. Bogpurpureahabitat

Morphology

In general, this thalloid liverwort is composed of worm like thallus, that often form a creeping mat; these mats can be branched or unbranched. Evident by its name, ''P. purpurea'' is often red, dark red-green or purple in colour. Although ''P. purpurea'' is a thalloid liverwort, it contains egg shaped, large, concave leaves. The sac shape of the upper leaves help it to collect water. This feature is unique to liverworts in this genus (''Pleurozia''). The leaves are arranged in four rows; there are two rows of large leaves on the top side of the plant and two rows on the lower side. Like in other liverworts, oil bodies and

trigone Trigone may refer to: * Trigone of the lateral ventricle * Trigone of urinary bladder The trigone (a.k.a. vesical trigone) is a smooth triangular region of the internal urinary bladder formed by the two ureteric orifices and the internal ure ...

s are visible in its leaves. Purpurealeafpic

Ecology

Recent studies into ''Pleurozia purpurea'' have revealed that they participate in

zoophagy This glossary of entomology describes terms used in the formal study of insect species by entomologists. A–C A synthetic chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticide, toxic to vertebrates. Though i ...

. The sac shaped leaves of this species allows it easily collect and store water. However, it was found that ''P. purpurea'' also trapped ''

Blepharisma ''Blepharisma'' is a genus of unicellular ciliate protists found in fresh and salt water. The group includes about 40 accepted species, and many sub-varieties and strains. While species vary considerably in size and shape, most are easily ident ...

americana'', which is a

protozoa Protozoa (singular: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a group of single-celled eukaryotes, either free-living or parasitic, that feed on organic matter such as other microorganisms or organic tissues and debris. Histo ...

n species. Additionally, investigations found that this protozoan was attracted to the plant, who regularly (and purposefully) trapped small animals.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2099417 Pleuroziales