liverwort

American  

[liv-er-wurt, -wawrt] / ˈlɪv ərˌwɜrt, -ˌwɔrt /

noun

1. any mosslike plant of the class Hepaticae, growing chiefly on damp ground, rocks, or on tree trunks and helping the decay of logs and the disintegration of rocks.

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liverwort British  

/ ˈlɪvəˌwɜːt /

noun

1. any bryophyte plant of the phylum Hepatophyta , growing in wet places and resembling green seaweeds or leafy mosses See also scale moss

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liverwort Scientific  

/ lĭv′ər-wûrt′,-wôrt′ /

1. Any of numerous small, green nonvascular plants of the division Marchantiophyta. Many liverworts reproduce asexually by means of gemmae. They also reproduce sexually, and their free-swimming sperm, produced in structures called antheridia, require liquid water, such as splashing raindrops, to reach the egg-producing archegonia. After fertilization, the small sporophyte grows directly on or in the gametophyte and is nourished by it. Liverworts are common in the tropics and often grow in moist soil, on damp rocks, and on tree trunks. Some liverworts have leafy bodies, while others have only a simple thallus. The name liverwort comes from the liverlike shape of the thalli of some species.

2. See more at bryophyte

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Etymology

Origin of liverwort

before 1100; Middle English; late Old English liferwyrt. See liver ¹, wort ²

Example Sentences

Liverwort plants can also reproduce asexually, by the breaking of branches or the spreading of leaf fragments called gemmae.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

How the Fleas’ Next of Kin Ended up Living on a Liverwort in Alaska Way, way down in the southeast corner of Alaska lies Prince of Wales Island, the fourth largest in the United States.

From Scientific American • Jul. 27, 2013

Endive, succory, lacture, violet, clary, Liverwort, marigold, sorrel, hart's-tongue, and sage: Pennyroyal, purslane, bugloss, and boràge, With many very good herbs, mo than I do name.

From A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 2 by Hazlitt, William Carew

Liverwort, any plant of the cryptogamic family Hepatic�, allied to mosses.—adj.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various

Liverwort is a very mild demulcent tonic and astringent, supposed by some to possess diuretic and deobstruent virtues.

From The Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1885-1886, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1891, pages 301-398 by Mooney, James