Identification notes
This is a frequent liverwort of bogs and mires, growing over and amongst Sphagnum and wet peat. It may be found in other wet acid habitats. The large cells, up to 50µm wide, give the plant a characteristic glistening, translucent, appearance. The leaves are inserted longitudinally and are antically decurrent. The pincer-like leaf lobes almost touch.
C. pleniceps is much less common but is found in similar habitats. It has large leaf cells but the leaves are barely decurrent and the lobes are not so pincer-like. Under the microscope, C. connivens has the thickening at the apex of the terminal lobe cells that C. pleniceps lacks. Another useful character is that the perianths have long cilia. There are some other Cephalozia species of similar habitats so it is always worth checking material that is not typical.
When growing on rotten wood, it can be confused with C. lunulifolia. Fertile material is relatively easily distingushed, especially if you can find perianths with the distinctively long cilia.
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