''Colura'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
of
epiphytic
An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...
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 ...
s and consists of approximately 60 species that are distributed mostly in the
tropics
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in
the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referr ...
. Species in this genus are no larger than a couple millimetres in size and may possess small water sac organs formed from fused leaf margins that trap small
ciliate
The ciliates are a group of alveolates characterized by the presence of hair-like organelles called cilia, which are identical in structure to eukaryotic flagella, but are in general shorter and present in much larger numbers, with a differen ...
s. It is because of this trapping mechanism that some species have been suspected of
carnivory
A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other so ...
, even as early as 1893. One such species, ''
Colura zoophaga'', was the subject of a study that aimed to investigate the assumed carnivorous habit among liverworts. The results confirmed that ciliates were captured and died within the water sac traps, which are not unlike the
bladder traps of ''
Utricularia
''Utricularia'', commonly and collectively called the bladderworts, is a genus of carnivorous plants consisting of approximately 233 species (precise counts differ based on classification opinions; a 2001 publication lists 215 species).Salmon, Br ...
''. Whether the species attract, digest, or absorb the prey has not been confirmed, however. The epiphytic habit of the genus, requiring all nutrients to be acquired from rainwater, is similar to the habit of known carnivorous plants.
[Barthlott, W., Porembski, S., Seine, R., and Theisen, I. (2007). ''The Curious World of Carnivorous Plants: A Comprehensive Guide to Their Biology and Cultivation''. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. pp. 180-181.][Barthlott, W., Fischer, E., Frahm, J.-P., and Seine, R. (2000)]
First experimental evidence for zoophagy in the hepatic ''Colura''
''Plant Biology (Stuttgart)'', 2: 93-97.
Species
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Colura acroloba''
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Colura ari''
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Colura australiensis''
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Colura bisvoluta''
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Colura calderae''
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Colura calyptrifolia''
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Colura conica''
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Colura crispiloba''
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Colura fistulosa''
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Colura leratii''
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Colura pulcherrima''
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Colura queenslandica''
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Colura saccophylla
''Colura'' is a genus of epiphytic liverworts and consists of approximately 60 species that are distributed mostly in the tropics. Species in this genus are no larger than a couple millimetres in size and may possess small water sac organs forme ...
''
*''
Colura simplicior
''Colura'' is a genus of epiphytic liverworts and consists of approximately 60 species that are distributed mostly in the tropics. Species in this genus are no larger than a couple millimetres in size and may possess small water sac organs forme ...
''
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Colura superba
''Colura'' is a genus of epiphytic liverworts and consists of approximately 60 species that are distributed mostly in the tropics. Species in this genus are no larger than a couple millimetres in size and may possess small water sac organs forme ...
''
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Colura tenuicornis
''Colura'' is a genus of epiphytic liverworts and consists of approximately 60 species that are distributed mostly in the tropics. Species in this genus are no larger than a couple millimetres in size and may possess small water sac organs forme ...
''
*''
Colura zoophaga''
References
Porellales genera
Lejeuneaceae
{{Bryophyte-stub