Pleurozia | |
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Pleurozia purpurea | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Division: | Marchantiophyta |
Class: | Jungermanniopsida |
Subclass: | Metzgeriidae |
Order: | Pleuroziales Schljakov |
Family: | Pleuroziaceae (Schiffn.) Müll.Frib.[2] |
Genus: | Pleurozia Dumort.[1] |
Synonyms | |
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Pleurozia is the only genus of liverworts in the family Pleuroziaceae, which is now classified in its own order Pleuroziales, but was previously included in a broader circumscription of the Jungermanniales.[3] The genus includes twelve species,[4][5] and as a whole is both physically distinctive and widely distributed.[6]
The lower leaf lobes of Pleurozia species are fused, forming a closed water sac covered by a movable lid similar in structure to those of the angiosperm genus Utricularia. These sacs were assumed to play a role in water storage, but a 2005 study on Pleurozia purpurea found that the sacs attract and trap ciliates, much in the same way as Utricularia. Observations of plants in situ also revealed a large number of trapped prey within the sacs, suggesting that the species in this genus obtain some benefit from a carnivorous habit. After Colura, this was the second report of zoophagy among the liverworts.[7]
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